Homecoming
by Nezuko
Summary: KakaIru, GenRai Kakashi returns home from a mission late at night. Is he drunk, or is something more sinister afoot? [ch 8 Tsunade interrogates a wounded medic, Ibiki gathers information in the chaos in the hall outside Kakashi's room]
1. Never Let Your Comrades Suffer

**Homecoming**

_by Nezuko, Prince of Rats_

_This is a work of derivative fiction based on "Naruto" by Kishimoto Masashi. The characters and the world in which they live are the property of Kishimoto-sensei._

Chapter 1: "Never Let Your Comrades Suffer"

Iruka's eyes snapped open at the sound - did he really hear it? - of someone moving nearby. The room was dark, a clouded, moonless sky offering indigo gloom through the shuttered window. The only source of light was the feebly glowing digital clockface: 2:21 AM. He held his breath and lay as still as stone, straining to hear any noise other than his own rapidly beating heart.

Almost imperceptibly, the slithering hiss of moving cloth came to his ears, then the sound of slightly labored breathing. He tensed every muscle, prepared to attack or defend himself from the intruder. Scarred, whitened knuckles wrapped around the shaft of a kunai under his pillow. A sudden beam of dim light fell across the foot of the bed as the door slid noiselessly open; half-gloved fingers gripped the light wood frame, pushing it slowly, carefully.

"Hell, woke you up. Was tryin' to be so quiet, too." A warm, husky whisper came from the intruder as he stepped into the room.

Iruka let out a sigh and dropped the kunai. "Okaeri nasai, Kakashi-kun."

"Tadaima," the silver-haired ninja tardily half-whispered in reply.

"Mission over?" Iruka sat up a little and watched as Kakashi slid the bedroom door shut again, leaving only his lithe shadow to cross the room. The shadow came near, moving with less grace than usual; Iruka heard the faint clink of metal plates as Kakashi's gloves and hitai-ate dropped to the ground, the rustle of high-tech fabric when his uniform vest followed suit.

"Yeah... Tired..." Still in shirt and pants, the tall jounin dropped heavily to the bed, grunting and a little out of breath as he eased next to Iruka's warm body.

"Ai! You're cold, Kashi!" Iruka flinched away involuntarily from Kakashi's chilled skin.

"Unh... s'cold out... rain..." Kakashi mumbled, rolling onto his side, his back to his bedmate.

"What's wrong with you?" Iruka demanded. "You're slurring. Did you go out drinking with Genma or something after your mission?"

"S'alright... sleepy, Ru..ka..." Kakashi was already halfway out.

'Damn, there's no point in talking to him when he's like this.' Iruka thought as he pulled the covers over the two of them. 'Damn Genma! I'm sure it was a bad mission for them, and Kami-sama knows I'm glad they're home safe, but you'd think they'd have enough sense to know not to drink when they're so wiped out. They can celebrate or blow off steam or whatever after they get some decent food and a solid night's sleep.'

He sighed and draped an arm over Kakashi's side, feeling the damp fabric of his shirt clinging to his belly. 'Guess it really was raining. He's gonna be sorry tomorrow that he slept in wet clothes.' He considered briefly getting back up to wrestle the groggy jounin out of his wet things and into dry pajamas, but dismissed the idea. Too much work, and he was too tired. He had to get up in the morning even if it was a Sunday - he'd promised to take Naruto out for waffles, and the gods only knew how early that hell-raiser was going to turn up. It wouldn't kill Kakashi to sleep in wet clothes. Maybe teach him a lesson about getting plastered after a mission. Dropping off to sleep, Iruka failed to notice one salient fact: Kakashi did not smell of sake.

ooo

The alarm clock chirped brightly awake at 5:45, just as it had been set. Iruka slammed a fist out from under the covers and bashed the offending timepiece into silence. Just five minutes more, was that too much to ask? He started to close his eyes again, when a muffled snore came from the unconscious jounin beside him. 'Damn, Kakashi's snoring? He must have really tied one on last night.'

Giving up on the idea of dozing, Iruka sat up, pushing the covers away and sliding his feet into his waiting slippers. He stood and stretched, soft light from a sunrise hidden by clouds filtering through the window and illuminating his bronze torso with its network of brown and white scars, a mute testament to the violence of his profession. He glanced at himself in the mirror, then at the sleeping form all but hidden under quilts. 'I just look worse because my skin's so dark. Poor Kashi-kun's really the one with scars in this house.'

Iruka pulled his long brown hair into a high ponytail, the coarse strands standing out stiffly in a spiky pompon. He grinned goofily at his scarred face in the mirror, in a good mood despite the early hour and his interrupted sleep. He was glad to have Kakashi home again - he hated the waiting and worrying while the jounin was away, especially because he knew exactly what sorts of missions his lover was out on, even if he didn't know the details. Working the Mission Assignment Desk had its advantages, if you could call them that. Sometimes, he thought, he might be happier not knowing that Kakashi was out on A-ranked missions or covert ANBU detail. Not that it wouldn't be obvious anyway, though. A shinobi of Kakashi's rank and skill wasn't going to get simple, safe assignments when he wasn't running training missions with a genin team.

Hooking his thumbs into the waistband of his maroon sweatpants, Iruka stepped into the bathroom, but stopped short, wrinkling his nose at the sight that greeted him. It was cleaned up, and the evidence was subtle, but it looked like Kakashi had been sick. 'Wow, wonder how I managed to sleep through that.' he thought. 'I'm seriously going to have a talk with him and Genma later today.'

After his morning ablutions, Iruka headed for the kitchen. He glanced at the clock - 6:15 - still a bit of time before Naruto showed up, and he guessed Kakashi would probably sleep late. He had just poured himself a glass of grapefruit juice when he noticed the red splash on the golden-brown tiles of his kitchen floor. 'Is that... blood?' he thought with alarm. A second drop led towards the kitchen doorway. Looking down intently now, juice forgotten, Iruka's alert distress grew. A trail of crimson droplets traced a path backwards to the entryway, where a larger dried pool stained the tiles in exactly the place someone would have stood while removing his shoes. He slid back the lock and jerked open the front door, where he was appalled to see another small pool of burgundy on the front step, and on the path to the door a larger one of blood-tinged vomit.

Slamming the door shut he raced back into the house, following the trail of brick red drops and smears from kitchen into bathroom, from there to the bedroom door.

"Kakashi?" he shouted. "Kakashi, are you alright?" he slid the door open so hard it bounced in its frame and skittered partway back.

"Kakashi! Answer me!" Iruka's voice was shrill, his heart racing. He flung the blankets off the bed, looked down to see Kakashi's still body stretched out on his side, unmoved from the position he had fallen into the night before. His dark blue uniform shirt was soaked black over his abdomen, the bedding under him a brilliant vermillion.

"Dammit! Wake up! Kakashi!" Iruka turned the unconscious man onto his back, shaking his shoulders. The mask he had slept in was pulled partway down, exposing his nose and unnaturally white lips. A red strand of bloody saliva trailed from the corner of his mouth. Iruka put his hand behind the man's head to lift it onto the pillow, shuddering when he encountered a sticky wetness in the silver hair. He could feel a deformed lump where some blunt object had cracked the back of the jounin's skull. Placing Kakashi's head as gently on the pillow as he could, he pulled his hand away and stared at the grotesque crimson lining the creases of his palm.

ooo

Outside, a grinning blond ninja in an orange and black jacket was just arriving at Iruka's doorstep. "Eeww! Someone was sick last night!" The mischievous 16-year-old chuckled, somehow completely overlooking the blood and seeing only evidence of overindulgence.

He pounded on the door. "Open up Iruka-sensei! I don't care if you _are_ hung over, you're still taking me out for waffles!"

When there was no answer he knocked again, "Yo! Sensei! Time to get up! Are you here?" He waited a moment, then tried the door. Surprised to find it unlocked, Naruto stepped in, calling a little more quietly, "Iruka-sensei?"

He was about to remove his shoes when he noticed the blood on the floor. "Uh, Iruka-sensei? Where are you? You OK?" Naruto's voice was reedy with worry now, the jovial, teasing tone gone without a trace. Not bothering to take off his sandals, he dashed inside, eyes and feet following the bloody trail through the small house. He stopped in shock when he reached the bedroom, staring through the open door at his sensei's half-naked form kneeling on the far side of the bed, bent over the uniformed body of another shinobi.

"Iruka-sensei? Are you alright? Is that... Kakashi-sensei?" he entered the room, wide blue eyes taking in the disturbing scene. Iruka looked unhurt, though his face was tight and clouded, but Kakashi... He was covered in blood and completely out of it. Iruka was pressing a blood-soaked towel to Kakashi's abdomen.

"Iruka-sensei, what happened?" The blond reached his two teachers just as Iruka turned to face him.

"I don't know. I don't know!" Iruka's voice was sharp. "He came home from a mission last night and I thought he had just gotten drunk with Genma but this morning I found him like this."

"Whoa, hang on, sensei." Naruto looked confused. "Home? Does Kakashi-sensei live with you? And what does Genma-san have to do with this?"

"What does that matter?" Iruka sounded angry. "Yes. He lives here. Now help me!"

"Right. OK." Naruto waited for Iruka to tell him what help he needed, deciding to just let his confusion ride for the moment. He looked at the dark-haired chuunin expectantly.

Kakashi coughed wetly, his eyes cracking open, drawing the attention of both men. His mismatched pupils gazed unfocusedly at Iruka's face. "I... ru... kh?"

"Shh, yes. I'm here." Iruka's voice was trembling with relief. He pulled the injured jounin's upper body into his lap and bent and kissed his forehead. "Thank the gods you're alive!"

Kakashi moaned as he was moved, his face contorting into a mask of pain.

"Naruto," Iruka commanded, "help me get him into a better position."

When Naruto didn't respond right away, Iruka explained, "He's taken a blade in the gut, and he's got a nasty-looking head injury. We need to turn him onto his side so if he vomits again he won't choke."

"Uh huh," Naruto nodded a little numbly. 'This is bad,' he thought, 'This is really, really bad. How in the seven hells did someone as good as Kakashi get this hurt? And what was Iruka-sensei saying about Genma? Did Genma do this?'

Student and teacher rolled the injured ninja as gently as they could, Iruka sitting next to him on the bed. He cradled the jounin's head and shoulders in his lap, and resumed pressing the towel to his belly. Kakashi's eyes had closed again, but his panting breaths told them he was still awake.

"Go get me another towel from the bathroom, Naruto." Iruka directed.

When Naruto returned, Iruka cast the old, bloodied towel to the floor, placing the fresh piece of folded cloth over the wound. He was greatly relieved to see that the bleeding had slowed considerably.

"Here, I brought a damp cloth, too," Naruto said. Without waiting for direction, he eased Kakashi's mask the rest of the way off his face, pausing for only a second when the jounin tried to push his hand away.

"Sorry, Kakashi-sensei. This is more important than your secret fish-lips. 'Never let your comrades suffer,' right?" He smiled an almost-cheery smile at Kakashi, who's eyes had opened when he heard his own teaching quoted back to him.

The injured man gave a half-smile-half grimace back. "Heh... Now you know... the truth..." he coughed and blood bubbled around his lips.

"I can't believe you can joke around when you're this sick!" Iruka stared at the two of them, while Naruto gently wiped his senior sensei's mouth. The blond looked up at Iruka, an anxious question in his eyes.

"Better to laugh... than... c-cry..." Kakashi choked on the last word, sending worried looks across both attendants' faces.

"Hush, Kakashi! Stop trying to talk!" Iruka took the cool cloth from Naruto's hand and wiped the palid, sweating face himself. "Naruto, go get Tsunade." When Naruto hesitated for a fraction of a second, Iruka roared, "Now!"

As soon as Naruto had left the house, slamming the door behind him, Kakashi groaned and shivered, his stoic facade dropping away like a burning roof collapsing in a fire. "Hurts, Ruka."

"Shh, I know. Don't talk, Kashi." He bent his head and gently kissed his lover's cheek, his eyes blurred with tears.

ooo ooo ooo

_Japanese Phrases_

Okaeri nasai Welcome home, usually said in response to "Tadaima"

Tadaima I'm home, usually said upon entering the home when returning

ooo ooo ooo

_Author's Notes_

For further explanations of this world and its people, see the appendix to the prologue of my story, _It's Nothing_

Why am I writing this instead of working on the next chapter of _It's Nothing?_ Well, this all came to me in a dream and I had to write it down before it evaporated. I promise I'll work on both of these stories. As for why I seem to have it in for Kakashi, I don't. He's my favorite character. He's tough, he can take it...

As usual, feedback and reviews are greatly appreciated. I mean it. Be specific about what you like and don't like, it helps me develop as a writer.

Nezuko


	2. No Medics

**Homecoming**

_by Nezuko, Prince of Rats_

_This is a work of derivative fiction based on "Naruto" by Kishimoto Masashi. The characters and the world in which they live are the property of Kishimoto-sensei._

_Chapter 2: "No Medics"_

Naruto ran towards the center of Konoha as fast as he had ever moved in his life. 'Where would Tsunade be at this time of morning? In bed? No, she gets up early. Her office? No, she hates her office. The hospital, yeah that's it!' He turned a corner and banked off the awning of a closed dress shop, bounding towards the rooftops to take a more direct route to the medical center.

When he reached his destination he dashed through the emergency entrance without even pausing to glance at the guard posted there.

"Wait, Uzumaki-san! Where are you..." The stocky kunoichi jumped in front of the frantic blond, blocking his path.

"No time! Gotta get the old lady! Kakashi-sensei! Iruka-sensei said get her! Bleeding bad!" Naruto spewed at the uncomprehending chuunin.

When she didn't immediately offer Naruto Tsunade's whereabouts, he glared at her. His recent growth made him a formidable-looking opponent, tall, muscular and bristling with anxious chakra.

"Where is she? Hokage-baba? Sensei needs her now!"

"Uh, hang on, Uzumaki-san. She's treating an emergency." The guard held up a nervous hand.

Naruto would have knocked her to the ground if he hadn't spotted a pink-haired young medic-nin to accost instead.

"Oi, Sakura-chan! Get Tsunade-baba!"

"Naruto?" Sakura was astonished to see her teammate at the hospital so early. "What's wrong?"

"Dammit! Hurry Sakura! Kakashi's dying and Genma did something and Iruka's got blood everywhere and it's not a hangover and where the hell is Tsunade?" Naruto was nearly apoplectic at this point.

"D-did you say Genma-san?" Sakura looked stunned.

Naruto was about to grab the front of Sakura's dress and force her to produce her mentor when a pair of large hands clapped down on Naruto's shoulders and spun him around to face the hugest, scariest jounin in Konoha, the interrogation specialist, Morino Ibiki.

"What were you just saying about Kakashi-san and Genma-san, Uzumaki?" Ibiki's scarred face filled Naruto's vision, his dark eyes locked with Naruto's blue ones. The chakra the man just barely kept in check was enough to intimidate all but the most stalwart under the best of circumstances.

"I... I was..." Naruto faltered.

"I'm not trying to scare you, Uzumaki-kun. Just slow down and tell me what's got you so upset." Ibiki's voice rumbled over Naruto.

Naruto swallowed and tried again to explain his urgent need for Tsunade's assistance at Iruka's house. He managed to choke out a semi-coherent version of the morning's events as he had so far experienced them, still baffled as to Genma's part in the story, but Ibiki and Sakura seemed to have an idea about that. He was about to break down in tears and beg the two of them to please get Tsunade and go help Kakashi-sensei, when the Hokage herself appeared.

"Hokage-sama, we've located Kakashi, and he..." Ibiki reported.

"Yes, I heard the last part of his story." Tsunade cut him off with a raised hand, then flicked worried eyes at the door she had just emerged from. "Sakura, you stay with Genma, Shizune will help you."

"But I, Tsunade-san I..." Sakura started, her green eyes filled with tension.

"I have every confidence in you, Sakura-kun."

"No, it's not that! Kakashi's my sensei and I..."

"Stop it! You are needed here." The fifth Hokage's voice was sharp and commanding.

"Could you please just quit fighting and come on!" Naruto grabbed for Tsunade's arm, but was quickly restrained by Ibiki.

"For once I agree with you, Naruto." Tsunade gave Sakura a final silent order with her eyes, then turned for the door. "Ibiki, you come too, I'm concerned about what we're going to find."

ooo ooo ooo

Kakashi awoke in a semi-dark room in a hospital bed, not yet quite in his body so not really in pain, and suffering from a concussion so unaware of recent events. He would have been more alarmed at his unfamiliar surroundings but for the reassuring sight of Iruka's sleeping face only inches from his own. The dark-haired chuunin was curled up on his side in a lounge chair, wearing a dark sweatshirt marked, "ANBU", and covered by a green and white hospital blanket. His face looked pale, with dark circles under the eyes, and his hair was greasy and unkempt, spilling untidily out of his usual ponytail. His chin was shadowed by two days growth of stubble.

Kakashi reached out a thumb to brush a strand of saliva away from the corner of Iruka's slack mouth, but the movement sent a surprising pain through his chest and stomach, and he found his arm's motion was restricted by IV tubing. Hand stopped in midair, Kakashi stared at the tubes for a minute, trying to figure out just what had happened to him, but the effort made his head hurt like crazy.

"You don't look so good, Iruka-kun," he murmured in a hushed voice, his mouth sticky and dry. "What the hell is going on here?"

Iruka startled instantly awake at the sound of the jounin's voice, his cocoa eyes flying open as he drew in a sharp breath. Kakashi reached out again, this time to try to soothe Iruka and apologize for waking him. Maneuvering around the dangling medical tubes and ignoring the pain in his torso, he patted the startled chuunin's shoulder. "Sorry, Ru-chan, didn't mean to wake you."

Iruka was shocked by Kakashi's seeming normalcy. "What did you say?" was all he could manage, still too sleep-dazed and stunned to come up with a more intelligent reply, but he reached up and gripped the jounin's hand.

"I said, you don't look so good. What happened to you?"

A mad rush of emotions assaulted Iruka. All of his worry, his impotent anxiety over the situation, his anger at himself for not having noticed Kakashi's condition when he'd first gotten home, his sleep deprivation, his sudden relief that his lover was awake and aware at last, his overwhelming fear of losing him: it all tangled together and emerged as anger.

"I look bad? _I_ look bad? You reckless, egotistical, overconfident _moron! I_ look bad? _Look at yourself!"_ He slammed out of the lounger and crossed the small hospital room to the sink, where he yanked a mirror off the wall. Trailing bits of paint and plaster, he shoved it in Kakashi's startled face.

Kakashi was taken aback by his own reflection. He, too, had a stubbly chin and greasy, disheveled hair, but in addition to dirty, it was bloodstained, the dark red contrasting sharply with his silver tresses, and poking out of and over a bandage wrapped around his skull. His Sharingan Eye was hidden under a simple eye patch, and his unmasked face was nastily pale with overly-red cheeks, the effect of blood-loss, fever, and a recent transfusion. As he shifted in the bed in reaction to Iruka, the movement forced his attention to his bandaged and sharply painful chest and belly, and to the presence of a catheter tube draped around one leg and trailing off the side of the bed.

"Shit. This is worse than I thought." Kakashi was still confused, and the pain at the back of his head shot lightning bolts behind his eyes; he really couldn't remember how he'd gotten in this condition, and he worried that Iruka might be hurt as well. Looking at Iruka's enraged expression, there was only one thing he could think to do at the moment: placate his lover. "Ano, Iruka-kun, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. Are you OK?" He tried to push himself up in the bed but it hurt too much and made his vision swim dizzily. He gave up with a groan, "What the hell happened?"

Iruka was still in a state - Kakashi lucid and talking to him just gave him a focus for the chaotic flood of emotions. "What were you thinking, Kakashi? Why in God's name would you try to hide such serious injuries from me? Do you have any idea how worried I've been?"

"Ano..."

"Four hours! You could have bled to death while I slept by your side like a baby! Dammit, we swore by everything that's holy to care for each other, _each other!_ How can I take care of you if even in your greatest need you won't let me? Do you really trust me that little?"

"Ano..." Kakashi tried to get a word in edgewise, but couldn't. He was horrified that he had made Iruka this angry without having any idea how he'd done it.

"And even if you don't trust me, don't you care about your own life? You should have just gone straight to the hospital! Dammit, you idiot!" Iruka was so upset he was near tears, which just added to his turmoil as he struggled against them.

Kakashi, who had begun to piece together a picture of what might have happened, even if it did make his head hurt to try, was struck by the absurdity of Iruka's accusations. It ought to be obvious, Kakashi thought, that he trusted Iruka above all others, if home was where he'd dragged himself in this pitiful state. He couldn't help the little snort that escaped as he tried to put the brakes on Iruka's rant.

"Iruka-kun, listen to yourself."

"What? Hatake Kakashi, this is serious!"

"I, know, I know, Iruka-kun, and I'm trying (mff!) very hard (mff ha!) to take it seriously..." He bit his tongue to keep from laughing outright.

Now Iruka was baffled. Why would Kakashi be laughing? Maybe the head injury was still scrambling his brains. "What in the hell are you laughing about? Are you still concussed?"

"Unnh, my head hurts, yes, but no, he, he... That's not why I'm laughing. Ha ha ha!" The laughter was self-limiting, though, as his abused abdomen protested, "Uuungh. Damn, that hurts!" Kakashi doubled over, gritting his teeth.

Kakashi's obvious distress snapped Iruka out of himself and back into caretaker mode. "Wait, I'll go get a medic. You probably need more medicine or a pain jutsu or..."

"No, don't!" Kakashi's voice was suddenly edgy, stopping Iruka before he could leave the room. "Come back over here and sit down."

It was a voice that one did not disobey lightly; Iruka returned to the bedside chair.

Sounding more calm now that Iruka was seated again, Kakashi started, "Now, listen, Iruka-kun..." but his voice cracked and the words stuck in his dry throat.

"Have a sip of water before you try to talk too much. It's been at least two days since you've had any fluids except for the IV." Iruka handed Kakashi a cup.

"Two days?" Kakashi's eyebrow rose as he recalculated everything in his head. "OK, well that explains some of why you're so wound up."

Iruka started to protest, but Kakashi put his hands up, "Just wait, Ruka, hear me out.

"OK, two days ago, it would seem, I somehow got myself hurt: bladed weapon in the gut and chest, and a knock on the back of the head by the feel of things."

Iruka nodded. "You don't remember?"

"No. So, in this condition, I apparently came home to you, but you didn't notice and I didn't tell you," Kakashi continued, then stopped, "I can kind of see myself hiding it if I'd done something really stupid or the injury were minor, but this obviously isn't. I _do_ trust you, Iruka, with my very life and more, or I wouldn't have come home to you first. But why would I have been hiding it from you? Unh. It makes my head hurt."

"Kakashi, don't. Let me get someone to..."

"No!" Kakashi's voice sounded almost manic. "We need to work this out, this is important." He reached for Iruka's hand, then continued to think aloud. "OK, I was hiding it, let's just come back to that. But how could you not notice something this severe? Hurt this badly I wouldn't have had enough chakra for a decent genjutsu, even if I did want to hide it from you. And why wouldn't I have gone to the hospital?"

He stopped and looked at his companion, "Iruka, what time did I come home? Was it night? Were you asleep?"

"Yeah, 2:20 in the morning, Sunday morning." Iruka was impressed that Kakashi had already reasoned it out this much, especially with what had to be a throbbing headache. His insistence on avoiding the medics was a little worrying though.

"OK, so if you were asleep, and I was trying not to wake you, I wouldn't have turned on the lights, so you wouldn't have seen my condition immediately. But why wouldn't you have turned on the light yourself? I know you don't sleep well when I'm away, so I'm sure I must have woken you coming in. And you always obsess over making sure I'm healthy when I get back from a mission."

"What? No I don't," Iruka protested.

"Yes you do, and I count on you to do it. I _need_ you to do it because I'm too much of an idiot." He squeezed Iruka's hand. "Aa, wait, we skipped a step. _Was_ I on a mission? I was just assuming."

"Yeah, you were on a mission with Genma. And he got brought in about an hour before we got you here, by an ANBU squad who just happened to find him. He was in bad shape too. He's upstairs - Tsunade says he'll recover fine. Ah, Tsunade -!" Iruka interrupted himself. "She said to get her the instant you woke up!" He was half-way out of the chair again.

"No! Sit down!" Kakashi sounded almost menacing, then started coughing.

Iruka grabbed a pillow and pressed it against Kakashi's abdomen to cushion the strain the cough was placing on the healing injuries. Kakashi's eyes were screwed tightly shut, and his pallid face glistened with cold sweat. When the coughing fit abated, he fell forward limply against Iruka's arms and groaned.

"Dammit!" he panted. Iruka could feel Kakashi's heart beating wildly, his chakra flaring in response to pain.

"Please, Kashi, please let me go get a healer-nin for you." He wiped Kakashi's sweating face with his cool palm, then eased him back into the pillows.

"No. No medics. We have to figure this out." Kakashi's voice was weak but firm.

"Why?" Iruka was nearly desperate. "What could you possibly have against getting medical care? It doesn't have to be Tsunade yet, I'll just get someone to bring something for pain..."

"No," Kakashi was pleading now, not commanding, "I don't know why yet, but it's important. Please, Iruka-kun. Just help me finish figuring this out. Don't let any of them near me until we do."

ooo ooo ooo

_Author's Notes_

Extra special thanks to HikaruxYuki for help with research and background.

Thanks also to reviewers for your helpful and detailed feedback. You know who you are.

As usual, feedback and reviews are greatly appreciated. I mean it. Be specific about what you like and don't like, it helps me develop as a writer.

Nezuko


	3. Interrogation Morino Ibiki and Shiranui...

**Homecoming**

_by Nezuko, Prince of Rats_

_This is a work of derivative fiction based on "Naruto" by Kishimoto Masashi. The characters and the world in which they live are the property of Kishimoto-sensei._

ooo ooo ooo

_Chapter 3: Interrogation - Morino Ibiki and Shiranui Genma_

Ibiki had been the one who brought Genma in. He had been in the wooded lowlands south of Konoha, returning from a rendezvous with two of the Leaf village's covert ANBU operatives who had finally managed to capture an elusive mole. The foreign ninja had proved highly uncooperative, so they had sent for aid from the Coercive Information Extraction Unit: Morino Ibiki's infamous torture and interrogation squad. Because this case was of the highest priority, Ibiki himself had led the team that answered the summons. The imposing, scar-faced commander had used his strongest persuasive techniques, which took a lot out of him, but it had been worth it. The prisoner had cracked, revealing all the Leaf nins needed to know.

When he had finished, Ibiki had headed back to the village, leaving his subordinates to dispose of their captive's mind; there was no need to destroy the man's body. He might even make a decent turnover - become a Leaf nin - though never without strict oversight. The former Sound jounin could wind up his days as a Leaf gennin, if he was lucky.

On his return trip, Ibiki had been tired, worn out from the exhausting interrogation, so he had been moving much more slowly than usual. Late that night he had stopped to rest for a few hours and await the sunrise before continuing the final kilometers to Konoha. It was Ibiki's fatigue that saved Genma's life.

ooo

The same damp, moonless night that Kakashi stumbled home to Iruka, Ibiki was sheltered under foliage wishing the drizzle would stop. Reclining against the trunk of a massive oak, he had been half asleep when a sound - the subtlest rustling of leaves and twigs - alerted him to a presence. A very faint, feeble glow of a familiar chakra caught his attention. Snapping on a red flashlight, he rose and approached the bracken where he sensed the energy.

"Shiranui-san? Genma?" he called.

There was no answer.

Ibiki pushed the dense ferns apart, looking for clues in the misty, night-shrouded forest to confirm his intuition. He was rewarded when he spotted the bruised stems and leaves that told him something heavy had passed through them. Following the slick trail, he found his sense of Genma's presence growing stronger.

"Genma-san, are you there? It's Morino Ibiki."

Still there was no reply.

Ibiki straightened and looked at the trees around him. His senses told him, though, that the source of the perplexing presence was at ground level. He was about to conclude that this was a trap, or perhaps a clever practical joke by his bandana-ed colleague, when the red beam of his light revealed a foot protruding from the fronds. He hastily pushed the vegetation apart, exposing Genma's prone and battered body. It looked as if the jounin had dragged himself using only his arms, crawling through the dripping underbrush for some way before collapsing face down.

"Genma! Wake up! Are you alright?" Ibiki shook the brown-haired jounin roughly, rolling him onto his back.

Genma groaned and struggled to open his eyes.

"What happened? Talk to me!" Ibiki shouted at his comrade.

"Kh..." was all the response the injured man was able to make.

A quick inspection revealed a badly broken right leg, numerous bruises from a vicious beating, and the entrance and exit marks of senbon on Genma's neck - the cause of his paralysis.

"Shit. Hang on Genma-san." Ibiki lifted Genma's head and held a water bottle to his mouth, but the trickle of liquid he offered his injured comrade just ran back out the corner of his thickened lips. He took off his vest and folded it to make a pillow, settling Genma's head on it before moving to address the gruesomely deformed leg.

Ibiki's options were limited. A pair of sturdy branches would have to suffice to splint the shattered limb. He unwound the uniform bandage tapes around his own calves to use to lash the wood in place.

While he assembled his materials, Ibiki did a quick survey of the surrounding area, but found no trace of any other person, ally or enemy. Returning to the downed shinobi, he cursed the fact that he had no sedative with him. "OK, Genma-san, I'm gonna splint your leg so I can move you."

Genma's eyes were slitted open, but the jounin made no reply.

Ibiki jostled Genma's shoulder, "Genma? Genma-san? You with me?"

Genma moaned, awake but incoherent.

'Better for him that he's out of it,' Ibiki reflected.

"I'm afraid this is gonna hurt, Genma-san, but I've got to do it." Squating, Ibiki took Genma's right foot in his hands and pulled, straightening the twisted appendage. Genma screamed.

"Ah, gomen. I'm sorry, Genma-san." Working quickly, Ibiki wrapped the bandages around Genma's leg and the improvised splints When he was done, he took his comrade's broken body gently in his massive arms and wiped the sweat from his face. Anyone watching would never have suspected that the giant man had a reputation as a sadist; he showed only the tenderest concern for his suffering colleague.

"Kh... Ka..." Genma stuttered.

"What?"

"Kh..." Genma's paralyzed tongue refused to work.

"Just hang on, Genma-san. Don't try to talk right now. I'll get you home."

Hoisting the injured ninja onto his back, Ibiki set off for Konoha at a run, fatigue banished by the surge of adrenalin the emergency produced.

An hour later, when they arrived at Konoha's gates, Genma had begun to recover the power of speech. He only said one word, but he said it over and over. His eyes teared, but from pain or emotion Ibiki couldn't tell.

"Kakashi... Kashi... Kakashi..." Genma half-whispered.

"What about Kakashi, Genma-san?" Ibiki asked, but the injured jounin on his back would say no more.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"Ka... kashi..."

Ibiki signaled the gate guards who quickly called for a medic team. The rain was nothing more than heavy mist, and dawn was beginning to color the streaky sky as they loaded Genma onto a stretcher. Terror flashed in Genma's golden brown eyes when his battered body was handled, and he summoned all his strength to reach for Ibiki, but he was too weak to do more than flutter his fingers over the edge of the stretcher.

"What happened, Morino-sama?" one of the medics asked.

"I don't know," he panted, out of breath from having run all the way with Genma on his back. "I found him injured about an hour ago - maybe ten kilometers from here."

In the rising light, Ibiki could see how contused Genma's face was. His left eye was swollen partly shut, bruised black and purple, the sclera blood red, and the left side of his face was badly distorted by what was probably a fractured cheek bone. His lip was split in two places; blood crusted the edges of his nose and mouth.

"Shit, Genma. Someone really did a number on you," Ibiki muttered.

"He looks bad. Was he on a mission that you know of?" the medic asked.

"I have no idea. I brought him straight here when I found him." Ibiki's voice was ominously low; his weariness and concern for his comrade left him with little patience for stupid questions.

"Shiranui-san and Hatake-san left this gate on a mission six days ago, Morino-san," put in one of the chuunin who manned the gate, consulting a log book.

At the mention of his comrade's name, Genma struggled to raise his head, "Ka... ka... shi... Kakashi..." His eyes were glazed, his consciousness uncertain.

"We'll go ahead and get him to the hospital," a second medic addressed Ibiki, "You look a little fatigued yourself, sir. Are you OK?"

"I'm fine. I'm coming with him." Ibiki gestured towards the stretcher, his fingers brushing Genma's hand.

"Ih...?" Genma faltered, squinting up at the jounin who had rescued him.

"Yeah, it's me, Ibiki. Hang on, Genma-san."

"Kaka... shi..." Genma grimaced and groaned.

"Dammit, he's in pain! Get moving!" Ibiki ordered. The medics jumped - this was the last man in Konoha they wanted to anger - and set off at a run through the quiet streets of the village.

"Send a runner to get Godaime to meet us at the hospital," Ibiki told the gate guard, then raced after the departing medics.

ooo

Arriving only moments after Genma and the medics, Ibiki was met by a scene of chaos at the hospital. Despite severe injuries and partial paralysis, Genma had managed to put up quite a fight when the medical team tried to transfer him from the stretcher to a bed. Ibiki pushed his way past the throngs when, over the shouts of hospital personnel, he heard Genma cry his name.

"I... bi.. kiiii!" Genma's voice was ragged and shrill.

Ibiki grabbed a tall, slender medic-nin who emerged from the curtained area where Genma's voice could still be heard. He glared down at the woman, backing her up against a wall. "What. The Hell. Are you _doing_ to him?" Ibiki's words were slow and dangerous, sending shivers down the spines of the medical team.

"Go... gomen, Morino-sama, I... I don't know why he's so agitated. We were only trying to move Shiranui-san to a bed..." The doctor in charge of the emergency ward licked her lips nervously.

"I.. Ibi..." Genma's hoarse voice rose again.

"Get out of my way." Ibiki didn't wait for a response; the assembled medical team parted for the imposing man as he approached. Genma lay sprawled across a gurney, held down by four burly looking chuunin. The improvised splint still held his right leg awkwardly stiff, looking crude and out of place in the high tech medical setting. When Ibiki entered his field of vision, the wild look left Genma's eyes, replaced by one of profound relief.

"Get off him." Ibiki glared at the attendants restraining Genma.

"Ano, Morino-sama, he might hurt himself if he keeps thrashing around..."

"He's not gonna do that." Ibiki was a master of reading people, and what he could see in Genma, as clearly as if it were written on his chest, was that he was afraid of the medics. He didn't know why Genma was afraid, but obviously his comrade and rescuer had a calming effect on him.

"OK, Shiranui-san, we're letting go now. _Please_ keep still," the chuunin who had spoken to Ibiki addressed his patient before signaling to his comrades and backing off.

Ibiki checked to be sure Genma was settled on the gurney before pulling a stool up next to him and sitting at his side, facing him. The raw terror that had suffused him had receded, leaving the injured jounin panting and in obvious pain. His hitai-ate had come off in the scuffle, and his long brown hair hung in sweaty hanks and clung to his bruised cheeks and forehead.

"Genma-san, you have to let them help you."

Genma shuddered in reply, but said nothing.

"What happened? You can tell me." Ibiki brushed the hair back from Genma's banged up face, then took one of his comrade's hands. It was an interrogation - a different type than his usual ones, but some of the same techniques applied. Earn the subject's trust, show him that you are a friend and ally, offer him protection. The biggest difference in this case was that all those things were true.

"You were on a mission with Kakashi-san, right?"

The words seemed to be some kind of key, for on hearing the name, Genma sucked in a quivering breath and held it for a moment, before closing his eyes and whispering "Ka... ka... shi..."

"Did something happen to Kakashi?"

Genma groaned and nodded once, face contorted in a grimace.

"Do you know where he is?"

"Ka... ahhh..." Genma's hand in Ibiki's went limp.

"Genma, don't pass out on me. What happened to Kakashi?" Ibiki's voice was as gentle with his comrade as it had been stern with the medics. He leaned in close to Genma's face, his massive body shielding the jounin on the gurney from the sight of the assembled onlookers.

Genma's vision was blurred and tunneling down. He dredged up the last of his strength to focus on Ibiki's face, force the words out over his puffy lips and unresponsive tongue: "Kashi's... dead." His voice was raw and hollow. He closed tear-filled eyes, spilling wet trails down his swollen cheeks, and his face fell slack; his head hung limply unconscious against the pillow.

"What in the seven hells is going on here, a circus?" Tsunade's voice cut across the room. "Ibiki, fill me in, _what_ is..." She stopped when she caught sight of Genma.

"Dammit, why didn't anyone tell me sooner?" she demanded. "Move." This last she directed at Ibiki, but he was already getting out of the healer hokage's way.

"Who put this piece-of-shit splint on him? And why hasn't anyone set up an IV? Shizune!" Tsunade directed her demands at no-one in particular, at the same time carefully examining her unconscious patient.

"Shizune-san's not here yet, Tsunade-sama," one of the nearby medical-nins replied.

"Well don't just stand there gawking. Make yourself useful! Get me a saline set-up and an internal-injuries kit."

"Mo... Morino-sama, you really do look tired, are you sure you don't want to sit down?" a young medic nin with bobbed pink hair addressed Ibiki, who was leaning against the wall watching Tsunade and an assistant tend to Genma.

"Don't take him too far away, Sakura, I still need to talk to him." Tsunade cut in. "In fact, I'm gonna need your help with Shiranui here, too.

"Ibiki," Tsunade raised her head to look at the tall jounin, "Shit, you really do look like hell. I can tell your chakra's low from here. Were you in this fight?"

"No," Ibiki replied, "I'm just tired. I had a... trying mission... and I just ran for an hour with him on my back."

"Well drink some water. Someone get him some water. And sit down. I don't need you passing out. Sakura, make him sit on that bed there."

Sakura swallowed and looked up at the forbiddingly scarred face of the man who had been the proctor at her first chuunin exam. 'He _does_ look exhausted,' she thought, 'but the very idea that I could ever _make_ Morino Ibiki do _anything_ is beyond absurd.' Fortunately the torture specialist seemed willing to comply with the hokage's instructions without Sakura's intervention. He sat on the neighboring bed, never removing his eyes from Genma and Tsunade.

Tsunade leaned over Genma. He lay naked now, tubes snaking into his body, tan skin covered with bloodied purple blotches where his assailant's blows had landed. With clothes and splint removed, under the harsh lights of the emergency ward, the mess of blood, flesh and bone of his shattered leg turned even Ibiki's stomach. But it was the senbon marks on Genma's neck that drew the hokage's attention.

"Ibiki, did you see the needles they used?" Her voice was suddenly quiet.

"No. I found him like this. And _I_ put the piece-of-shit splint on. It was the best I could do in the field."

"It's fine. Did he... say... anything?" Tsunade seemed suddenly uncharacteristically restrained. "No wait, don't answer that. You," Tsunade turned to Sakura, "take Genma to surgery prep, I'll meet you." She rose and crossed to Ibiki, pulling a curtain around them, cutting off the noise and sights of the rest of the room.

"There's a sound jutsu on this, so we can talk without being overheard. Now," she looked at Ibiki, "did he say anything?"

"Just one thing. He was having a hard time talking but he kept saying Kakashi's name," Ibiki replied, "Gate guard said they had been on a mission together."

"Yeah," Tsunade prompted, "I know all about the mission."

"He said," Ibiki continued, "That Kakashi is dead. But I'm not sure... He was really out of it, and there was no sign of anyone else where I found Genma. He didn't have Kakashi's dogtags or hitai-ate."

Tsunade put her fingertips to her brow, shielding her eyes. "This is bad, Ibiki... it's bad... I'm afraid..."

Before she could finish another medic tore open the curtain. "Tsunade-sama, please come. Sakura-san needs your help. The patient's seizing."

"Shit!" Tsunade hurried after her summoner.

Ibiki stared at her retreating back. "Shit," he echoed. "Shit."

_END chapter 3_

_Japanese Phrases_

Gomen - Sorry

senbon - needle that can be used for healing like an acupuncture needle or as a weapon, depending on size and where it is placed.

ooo ooo ooo

_Author's Notes_

Back to this story at long last. I guess I'll just have to bounce between this and "It's Nothing" until one or the other is finished. There's still a lot of this story left to tell.

Special thanks to Isolde1, hikaruxyuki and L-lamb for research and support.

As always, reviews _highly_ appreciated.


	4. Ambush

**Homecoming**

_by Nezuko, Prince of Rats_

_This is a work of derivative fiction based on "Naruto" by Kishimoto Masashi. The characters and the world in which they live are the property of Kishimoto-sensei._

ooo ooo ooo

_Chapter 4: Ambush_

An hour later Ibiki was wandering the corridors of Konoha's hospital, waiting for news on Genma's condition. A strong cup of coffee and a bowl of hot rice with raw egg in the medical center cafeteria had bolstered his energy enough to keep him upright a few more hours at least.

'Damn, what I really need is some sleep,' he thought. But morning was upon the Fire Country, and it just didn't make sense to the jounin to turn his schedule upside down for one day's comfort. Ibiki leaned against the rail of the walkway that spanned the large atrium over the hospital's lobby. He yawned and stretched, gazing absently out the two-story window at the sun struggling to penetrate the persistent drizzling clouds.

'I should go write up the mission report. Tsunade will tell me when there's anything to tell. It's not like waiting here will do any good,' Ibiki admonished himself. But he did not leave. Having brought Genma in, he felt responsible for his comrade, even though his care was now out of Ibiki's hands. He was reluctant to leave the building not out of any logical thought process, but from a much deeper, more primitive instinct. A drive that has served the human animal well over thousands of years of evolution: loyalty, camaraderie, compassion, friendship.

A flash of orange and black on the road approaching the hospital emergency entrance caught Ibiki's eye, and he just had time to wonder what the kyuubi boy was up to when he heard a disturbance from the floor below that told him: Naruto was in the building and already the center of some upset. But it wasn't the disturbance created by young man that alerted Ibiki, sent him leaping over the railing to confront him; it was one word he'd picked out of Naruto's rant: "Kakashi."

By the time Ibiki reached Naruto, the sixteen year-old was reaching for the front of a startled young medical-nin's coat - the pink-haired girl that had been assisting Tsunade with Genma. She was staring alarmed and wide-eyed at the boy whom Ibiki knew to have been her gennin teammate.

"D-did you say Genma-san?" Sakura stuttered, as Ibiki silently approached.

"What were you just saying about Kakashi-san and Genma-san, Uzumaki?" Ibiki clapped his hands on Naruto's shoulders, spinning him around to face him.

"I... I was..." Naruto faltered.

Ibiki stopped, he wasn't trying to frighten the kid to death, he just needed information. His years of expertise as an interrogator allowed him to adopt a soothing voice with no effort, to look at the boy with nothing but kind reassurance. "I'm not trying to scare you, Uzumaki-kun. Just slow down and tell me what's got you so upset."

Getting a coherent story out of the agitated boy was difficult, but it was pretty clear that Hatake Kakashi, or at least someone Naruto believed to be his sensei, was lying gravely injured at the home he might or might not share with the Academy teacher Umino Iruka. Naruto babbled something about Genma going drinking with Iruka and Kakashi, maybe doing something to Kakashi, and that Iruka wasn't hung over. He was red in the face and near tears, pleading with Ibiki and Sakura to "get the old lady and help Kakashi-sensei before he bleeds to death!" when Tsunade herself burst through the double doors that led to the operating rooms.

"Hokage-sama, we've located Kakashi, and he..." Ibiki started.

"Yes, I heard the last part of his story." Tsunade cut him off with a raised hand, then flicked worried eyes at the door she had just emerged from. A spray of bright blood decorated her coat.

'Genma's blood,' thought Ibiki, 'Is he OK?'

"Sakura, you stay with Genma, Shizune will help you."

"But I, Tsunade-san I..." Sakura started, her green eyes filled with tension.

"I have every confidence in you, Sakura-kun."

"No, it's not that! Kakashi's my sensei and I..."

"Stop it! You are needed here." The fifth hokage's voice was sharp and commanding.

'She must be good, or Tsunade wouldn't give her this assignment, right?' Ibiki stared at Sakura. 'But if she's unwilling...' His thought was interrupted by the flash of orange movement as Naruto reached for Tsunade's body.

"Could you please just quit fighting and come on!" Naruto's voice sounded whiney and desperate.

Ibiki moved before he even had time to realize he was doing so, grabbing Naruto by both shoulders and restraining him before he could touch the hokage. Tsunade seemed unconcerned, however.

"For once I agree with you, Naruto,"she said. Ibiki saw her glare a silent order at her apprentice before turning to the tall jounin. "Ibiki, you come too, I'm concerned about what we're going to find."

Once they were outside the hospital doors, Naruto could not be held back.

"Come _on!"_ he begged, dancing impatiently ahead of the two senior shinobi.

"Iruka-sensei's house, right?" Ibiki asked the boy.

"Yeah, and I think it might be Kakashi-sensei's house, too, but I don't know. But come _on!"_

"Don't be a brat, kid, this is bad enough without that," Tsunade said.

"Look, you go on ahead. Tell Iruka-sensei we're coming. We're right behind you, Uzumaki-kun," Ibiki said, trying to give himself and Tsunade time to discuss the situation. To his relief, Naruto took his suggestion and raced off.

The early morning streets were still relatively empty, but to increase their privacy, Ibiki raised a simple notice-me-not genjutsu around himself and the hokage. He was aware of the ANBU guard that accompanied the leader of the Konoha ninja clans following silently, at a respectful distance. They would not be fooled by his genjutsu, but he did not need them to be.

"What are you not telling me?" he asked, turning to Tsunade as they hurried through the village.

"I... I'm not sure yet," she replied, "Something about Genma's injuries - the residual chakra on those senbon marks... I have a bad feeling, Ibiki."

"How is he?"

"He'll make it, I think. If there's nothing I'm missing."

"It's bad?"

"It's bad. He's fortunate you found him when you did. Those wounds are at least a day old, and infected. But I think we got it in time. If his luck holds, he'll be begging to be released back to active duty in a few weeks." Tsunade laughed, but there was no mirth in her tone.

"The cares of a hokage, eh Ibiki?"

"Genma-san is a ninja by choice, Tsunade-sama. And a good one." Ibiki said.

"Yeah. You all are. That's the problem." The blonde woman's body and face looked far younger than her age, but her eyes reflected the truth of her 55 years.

As they neared Iruka's house, Ibiki put his hand up, halting Tsunade. A signal from one of the ANBU guards had caught his attention. He moved to speak to the woman behind the animal mask.

"Report."

"Morino-san, there are three males inside: Uzumaki, Umino-sensei and Hatake-san."

"You've confirmed their identities? There are no jutsu active?"

"Hai. And it is as Uzumaki said, Hatake-san is badly hurt."

"Is the medical transport team on standby?" Ibiki asked, scanning the area.

"They're already here, waiting for instructions from Tsunade-sama." the ANBU woman replied.

"Good, send them in, we'll follow." Ibiki rejoined Tsunade and filled her in on what he had learned. A sharp whistle from one of the ANBU escorts brought a white-clothed medical team out of the shadows and racing over the threshold into Iruka's small house.

ooo

Inside the house the scene was much as Naruto had left it. Iruka, wearing only maroon sweatpants, sat on the bloodied futon, cradling Kakashi's head and shoulders in his lap. The injured jounin was curled on his side, facing the door, still wearing the blood-soaked uniform he had come home in. His pale face was unmasked and his scarred Sharingan eye uncovered, though both eyes were tightly shut. One arm clutched a light yellow towel to his abdomen; where it was in contact with his body, the rough terrycloth was tinged bright red. Only the tension in his face and arm gave evidence that Kakashi was still conscious. Iruka stroked his hand and muttered the sort of soothing nonsense one does to a crying baby, as much to comfort himself as his lover.

"It'll be alright, Ka-chan, Naruto's gone to get help. Just hang on, ne? You'll be OK." He looked up when Naruto burst into the house.

"Iruka-sensei! They're coming! Tsunade and Ibiki! Is he..." he stopped, dropping his voice as he entered the room, "Is he OK?"

Kakashi opened bleary eyes at the sound of Naruto's voice. "Still... here..." he gave Naruto a weak smile for a second before scrunching his face into a tight grimace, choking back a groan.

"No! Don't talk Kakashi-sensei. And don't answer that! Ah, I'm sorry!" Naruto panicked at the obvious distress his sensei was suffering.

"Ru..." whispered Kakashi, squeezing Iruka's hand.

"Hush!" Iruka scolded. "Naruto, get me a top from that chest." He pointed at a set of wooden drawers built into the wall.

"Uh, OK, sure!" Having something to do gave momentary focus to the raw anxiety flooding the teenager. "He yanked open a drawer and pulled out a navy sweatshirt. "Is this one OK?"

Iruka reached for the shirt, biting his lip when he saw what Naruto had selected for him.

"It's one of yours, Kashi. An ANBU warmup." Iruka's stomach knotted as he pulled the fabric over his head, enveloped in the scent of his lover, who lay gravely injured in his lap.

He heard someone else enter the house, and the masked face of an ANBU soldier peered in through the window, then vanished. Suddenly the little bedroom was alive with activity. A pair of white-uniformed medical-ninja pressed past Naruto into the room. Before they could even say a word, Kakashi had reacted, shying violently against Iruka, knocking him over backwards. The injured man pushed himself up on the bed, one arm out in a protective stance, as if shielding Iruka from an enemy.

"Ruka, get down! Get away!" he hissed, before crumpling forward with a pained cry. The rescuers rushed in to tend to the injured man, who unleashed the last of his available chakra in a fiery blast that singed the fronts of both medics' uniforms and infused the air with the acrid smell of burning protein from their frizzled hair.

"Kakashi! Stop!" Iruka yelled, lunging after the falling man.

The room was filled with alarmed cries from the assaulted medics and panicked onlookers. Kakashi lay face down in a twisted heap on the edge of the scorched bed.

It was into this chaos that Tsunade and Ibiki strode.

Ignoring the shouting ninja, Tsunade knelt by Kakashi and rolled the unconscious man partway over.

"Shit!" She berated her medical colleagues, "He's got an obvious head injury and he's _how_ strong of a jounin? What did you expect, rushing him like that?"

In the shock and disorder of the moment, Iruka didn't think to correct Tsunade's timeline. To tell her that Kakashi had ambushed the medics, not the other way around.

ooo

At the hospital later that morning, while Kakashi was prepared for surgery, Ibiki briefed Iruka and Naruto on Genma's condition. What the ANBU commander relayed was unsatisfyingly vague, only that the jounin was badly injured but expected to recover, and could not yet have visitors. Most of Iruka's questions remained unanswered, but he knew better than to pry. If the cause of Genma and Kakashi's condition had something to do with their mission, as it almost certainly did, and Ibiki knew anything about it, he wasn't at liberty to reveal it to Iruka.

Sakura proved a more detailed informant. Iruka felt briefly guilty about probing her for information, but his need to know what had happened overrode his scruples about respecting Genma's privacy or digging into details about a classified mission. There wasn't much, he reasoned, that Sakura could reveal about the secretive mission, since she obviously didn't know herself. And Genma was a friend. Since Raidou, his partner, was away on a mission, it was up to Iruka to look out for him.

Sitting in the uncomfortable chairs of the cafeteria and mindlessly stirring a bowl of miso soup with one chopstick, Iruka teased the story out of Sakura.

"How's Genma doing, Sakura-chan? Were his injuries difficult to treat?" Iruka deliberately used her student name, reminding her he was her trusted sensei, an authority figure she could confide in.

"Well, his right leg is shattered. It was one of the most horrible looking open fractures I've ever seen." The pink-haired young woman made a face. "And he has some really bad internal injuries." Sakura paused and swallowed before continuing, "Shizune-san said it looked like the effects of torture - like Genma-san was restrained and defenseless and just _beaten_." Sakura shuddered, and Iruka put a hand on his former student's arm.

"Ano, Iruka-sensei, do you really think that could happen to Genma? I mean, he's _strong." _Naruto interrupted.

"Even the strongest shinobi can be brought down, Naruto. Maybe he was badly outnumbered." Iruka offered. He forced a placid, teacher's expression onto his face, trying to hide his disquiet at the disturbing image Sakura's words brought to mind: Genma, his good friend Genma, laughing, disdainful, and as Naruto had said, undeniably strong Genma, tied up and assaulted by a mob of faceless enemy ninja. It was impossible not to substitute Kakashi's face for Genma's in the mental picture, to see the glittering blade of a wakizashi thrust into his belly, the iron knob of a club smashed into the back of his head.

"Iruka-sensei? Are you alright?" Sakura looked worriedly at her former teacher, who had suddenly glazed over, staring into space.

Iruka shook himself, forcing his mind into the present. He wasn't helping Genma or Kakashi with these morbid visions. "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan, I'm just tired. I'm worried about Genma and Kakashi."

"Tsunade-san and Shizune-san are with Kakashi-sensei right now - in fact I should probably get back to them in a few minutes." Sakura did her best to mimic the reassuring look she had seen her mentors give the fearful loved ones of so many patients. "I'm sure they'll heal him, Iruka-sensei."

"What about Genma-san, Sakura? Is _he_ gonna come out OK?" Naruto asked, impatient and insensitive to the gut wrenching anxiety his teacher was in.

"Genma-san, ah... he ah... Tsunade-san did an amazing jutsu on his leg to re-grow the bones. He has to be in traction for a while, but it should heal fine..." Sakura broke off, glancing to the side.

"What, Sakura-chan? What are you afraid to say?" Iruka prompted, "It's OK. You can tell me."

"Well it's just, he has a... a head injury," Sakura flinched, knowing that Iruka couldn't help but make the analogy to Kakashi's skull fracture.

"It's OK, go on."

"He's... Genma-san's still really out of it. He's acting all afraid of everyone except Ibiki-san. You know Ibiki-san brought him in, right? But it might just be from the pain and dehydration and infection..." she rushed her words, wanting to explain away Genma's strange behavior before Iruka could start to worry about Kakashi's mental state. "I'm sure he'll be back to normal in the next day or so."

"Arigatou, Sakura-chan. I know you'll be doing your best to help." Iruka smiled wanly. 'She really has grown up a lot,' he thought, 'Tsunade-sama was right to take her as an apprentice.'

"Ano, Iruka-sensei, are you eating that onigiri?" Naruto asked, gesturing to the rice ball on the chuunin's plate.

"You can have it. But don't point with your chopsticks, it's rude, Naruto-kun." Iruka replied.

ooo

Late that evening Iruka sat slumped on the bench where he and Naruto had anxiously spent the day waiting for news on Kakashi. He had sent Naruto home to get some sleep, promising to call for him if there was any news. It was nearing midnight when, after grueling hours of surgery and complex healing jutsus, Tsunade accompanied the unconscious body of her patient as he was brought to a room on the Surgical Care Unit. She looked weary and worried, her usually lively features drawn and pale.

"Umino," Tsunade put a hand on the drowsing chuunin's shoulder, startling him awake.

"Hokage-sama, I'm sorry, I should have been aware of you..."

"It's alright, you've had a difficult day."

Iruka strained to see the still form on the gurney next to the healer.

"He's sleeping. Come with me." Tsunade said curtly.

Iruka followed, watching anxiously as two medics transfered Kakashi's body to a bed, hooking up lines and tubes, and attaching a beeping monitor to the unconscious jounin.

"Shut the volume on that horrible thing off before I blast it to atoms!" Tsunade ordered. "You can monitor it from the nursing station."

"Ha-hai, Tsunade-sama," the shorter of the attendants replied, pressing buttons on the machine that silenced it. The pulsing lines of light and fluctuating numbers continued their dance silently on its screen.

When the nursing assistants departed, Iruka went to Kakashi's side, staring helplessly at his suddenly frail lover. His head and abdomen were bandaged, the blood mostly cleaned away. Kakashi's unmasked face had an almost greenish pallor, and his eyes were deeply shadowed. The scar bisecting his left eyelid looked shockingly vivid, as if the injury that had produced it were recent, not almost twenty tears old. His perfectly sculpted face and body seemed dwarfed by the bed and medical apparatus.

"He only looks bad because he just came out of surgery." Tsunade's words were surprisingly warm. "We'll give him a transfusion in a little while, should bring up his color a lot."

"Oh..." Iruka could think of nothing to say. His mind raced with questions but none made it to his tongue. He continued to scrutinize Kakashi, as if simply looking would give him the answers he needed.

"It's OK, you can touch him," Tsunade said.

"Oh..." Iruka blushed, but leaned over and ghosted a kiss on his unconscious lover's lips just the same. "Ka-chan..." he whispered, feeling the gentle, warm whoosh of breath from Kakashi's nose against his skin.

He straightened when he felt a second presence in the room, and was surprised to find that Ibiki had entered.

"Ibiki-san, you're still here?"

"Unh," Ibiki grunted in affirmative, "How's Kakashi-san doing?"

"He has a fracture at the base of the skull, as you already know," Tsunade said, "but there is no sign of permanent brain or spinal injury."

Iruka felt an immense weight lifted from him at those words.

"The internal injuries were... unusual... more extensive than the single blade entry wound would suggest," Tsunade continued, "We were able to repair most of the damage but healing will be slow. He's lost a lot of blood. And there are signs of infection, which isn't surprising given that he had an open belly wound for at least several hours."

Guilt ate through Iruka. If only he'd _really_ woken up when Kakashi had first come home!

"I... I'm sorry, Tsunade-sama, I should have noticed his condition sooner..."

"It's not your fault, Iruka-sensei," Ibiki said, "this is mission-related."

"Yes, mission-related," Tsunade stopped and pinched the bridge of her nose, then looked from Kakashi's sleeping face to Iruka's anxious one. "I suppose I can assume that whatever _he_ know, _you_ know, can't I?"

"Eh, no, Hokage-sama, I..." Iruka hastened to reply.

"Cut the crap, Umino. I know how it works. Lover's confidentiality and all that. I know Kakashi would never do anything to compromise a mission or this village. And you're a good ninja - top of your rank, maybe better." She paused, looking piercingly at Iruka. The Godaime and Ibiki exchanged significant looks before, coming to some sort of decision, Tsunade continued.

"So, do you know what his mission was about?"

The hokage and her interrogation specialist watched the chuunin expectantly.

Iruka's face colored; he looked away from the prying gazes. "Ano... edo... I... know he and Genma-san were on an A-ranked reconnaissance mission that had something to do with..." Iruka paused and glanced at Tsunade and Ibiki, swallowed and continued, "... with the recent sabotage in the Land of Cascades..." It was more detail than he should know, a fact he was sure Tsunade and Ibiki were both well aware of.

"Well done, Umino. You didn't lie," Tsunade said. Her voice was even, and there was no trace of sarcasm.

"Hokage-sama, I would never..."

"Tsunade-sama, I have believed for some time that Iruka-sensei would be capable of deep security work. Sandaime-sama considered him a confidante, and surely Kakashi-san would not take as a lover any shinobi who was not of the highest caliber."

Iruka blushed a deeper red at Ibiki's words.

"Thank you, Ibiki, I appreciate your opinion." Tsunade said.

"Umino-sensei," she continued, "Iruka. Genma, as I know you have already learned, was severely beaten and has been... unresponsive. Obviously Kakashi is in no shape to tell us what happened. But you might be able to help. Something happened to them that I..." she paused, looking at Kakashi's unmoving body, the blinking monitor lights, the slowly dripping intravenous lines.

"Stay with Kakashi until he wakes. I expect he may be in and out for a few days, probably somewhat confused. Pay attention to anything he says or does that could reveal what happened. Obviously I will continue to manage his treatment, but I can't be here 24 hours a day; you can. Get me the minute he fully awakens, or if there is any change in his condition for the worse."

"Hai, Hokage-sama. I would prefer to stay with him in any event. But... my classes?"

"Someone will cover your classes. Don't worry about that right now. This is a mission of the highest priority."

"Is there... is there anything in particular you're expecting he might say?" Iruka asked, feeling grateful for the opportunity to simply stay by his lover's side, but unsure how exactly that could help solve the mystery of what had happened to him and Genma. The fact that Tsunade had called this a mission did not escape him.

"If he..." Tsunade stopped herself. "Just tell me anything he says about the mission, even if he seems delirious or it doesn't make sense. I... I'll know how to interpret it."

"Do... do you want me to... is someone going to be with Genma? He's a friend and..." Iruka trailed off. He didn't really know how to ask his question. Something was going on behind the hokage's facade, but he could not quite put his finger on it. It seemed she knew more about what had happened than she was letting on.

Tsunade considered Iruka's question." What about Raidou? Ibiki, can we assign him to Genma? They have a similar situation, do they not? He'll probably want to be here anyway."

"Yes, but he's currently in the field on an unrelated mission," Ibiki replied.

"Well, see to it that he's recalled if possible, and informed of the situation. Iruka, since you'll be here at the hospital, I'll instruct the medical personnel to send Raidou to you for information. He might come here looking for Genma before Ibiki or I have a chance to discuss this with him."

"Of course," Iruka replied. He was tired, and overwhelmed. He wanted to just sit with Kakashi, hold his hand, and try to assimilate all that had happened.

Tsunade crossed to Kakashi's side and leaned over him, pressing her fingertips lightly over the bandages on his chest. She straightened and fiddled with one of the IV lines, before looking up at Iruka and saying, "I'm sorry this happened. This wasn't supposed to happen." For a moment she seemed almost vulnerable. Then she turned and left the room, her face steely and unreadable.

"Iruka-sensei?" Ibiki's voice was low and surprisingly gentle, "Are you OK?"

"I... yes, thank you Ibiki-san." Iruka didn't know the jounin well, only by reputation, and it wasn't a reputation that put one at ease. It had come as a surprise that Ibiki seemed to think highly of him.

"I'll let you know if there's any change with Genma. You should get some rest. These chairs fold out." Ibiki turned and headed for the door. "I'll tell the nursing staff to let you sleep. Oyasumi, Iruka-sensei." He slid the wall switch, turning off the overhead light. The room seemed almost peaceful, bathed only in the glow of light from the hallway spilling in through the open door.

"Oyasumi, Ibiki-san." Iruka waved a hand in a farewell salute as the jounin left.

In the now quiet room, Iruka pulled the recliner closer to Kakashi's bed. Still standing, he leaned over and kissed the spot between the silver brows. "Oyasumi nasai, Kashi-chan. Don't sleep too long," he whispered. He sat in the chair, finding the lever that allowed it to recline, then tucked his long legs up and curled onto his side, facing Kakashi. One bronze hand reached out across the gap between the recliner and the bed to grasp the pale, scarred one resting limply on top of the hospital blanket. "Please, don't sleep too long."

_END Chapter 4_

ooo ooo ooo

_Japanese Phrases_

arigatou - thank you

hai - yes, affirmative

oyasumi / oyasumi nasai - good night

ooo ooo ooo

_Author's Notes_

I don't quite know how this chapter got away from me like this, but it's a long one. And early. I wish I could promise to be this prolific all the time, but you have to take advantage of inspiration when it comes.

Special thanks to hikaruxyuki and L-lamb for research and support.

As always, reviews _highly_ appreciated. Thanks to all for the wonderful feedback and encouragement. Your reviews keep me working enthusiastically through the night.


	5. Hostages

**Homecoming**

_by Nezuko, Prince of Rats_

_This is a work of derivative fiction based on "Naruto" by Kishimoto Masashi. The characters and the world in which they live are the property of Kishimoto-sensei._

ooo ooo ooo

_Chapter 5: Hostages_

Genma lay unmoving in the bed, his mending leg cased in a metal framework and suspended by weights and pulleys. When he let the medical personnel around him see he was awake, he was guarded with them, only really relaxing when Ibiki was around. The first day, Sunday, he'd been completely unconscious, and the second only awake for short periods. It was the third day that saw him really back in control of his awareness, and that was when he'd become devious. Pretending to be asleep, listening astutely to what was said around him. He tolerated the ministrations of the medical-nins mostly because the waning paralysis from the enemy senbon and the injuries he'd suffered left him too weak to stop them.

It was during one of his silent reconnaissance periods, on the fourth evening of his hospitalization, that Genma discovered the critical piece of information. He listened with eyes closed, pretending to be asleep, to the two students who were assigned to cleaning his room as they nattered inanely about this and that. It was hard not to let their buzzing voices really lull him to sleep, but then he heard the _name_.

"... Hatake-san?"

The patient in the bed gave no sign, but he was suddenly hyper-alert.

"Yeah, that silver-haired jounin down in the SCU?"

"Yeah, I know who you mean."

"Did you see the guy who was with him? He's really cute! And that scar on his nose.."

"Oh my god, you mean Iruka-sensei? No way! He's an Academy teacher..." The girls broke into fits of giggles.

"No seriously, I mean, if he weren't already taken..." More giggles.

Genma listened tensely, waiting for one of the girls to come close.

"Or maybe if his boyfriend doesn't make it. I heard he was in a coma. Then I'd have a chance, Giri-chan."

"As if! Besides, that guy's strong. He'll make it. He's like only the most famous jounin in Konoha. You know _Sharingan_ Kakashi? _Copy-nin_ Kakashi? Surely your parents..."

"So what's the deal with this guy?" the second girl interrupted, not paying attention to her friend.

'Come on, just a little closer,' Genma thought, keeping his eyes closed, his breathing steady.

"Don't know. He was probably hurt on a mission."

"Mission mission mission - you think everyone's a ninja just cuz we live in Konoha. This guy's probably harmless, a roofer or something. Watch."

"Oh gods, _don't_ Yukio. He's jounin!"

'Shit! Don't warn her away!' Genma, who had been about to spring, relaxed invisibly back into waiting as the girl jumped away from his bedside.

"So he really _is _a ninja? Well, my uncle's a jounin, and he's harmless."

"Guys like that are _not_ harmless!"

"He's totally out of it."

"You don't _know_ that. Look, Yu-chan, I'm just gonna do under his bed and then..."

The girl named Giri stiffened but no sound came out. The handle of her mop clattered to the floor. Genma's strong hand was clapped around the girl's slender neck, holding her immobile, pinned against the railing of the bed.

With his free leg Genma pushed himself upright as much as he could, glaring at the frightened girls. "Don't move," he rasped.

"Ah..." the girl named Yukio started to scream. Before the sound could leave her mouth, a hypodermic needle embedded itself in the wall next to her face. A second syringe was already aimed by Genma's practiced hand.

"I said, 'Don't. Move.' That includes not screaming."

The girl's green eyes widened, and she nodded her head the barest millimeter to acknowledge the command.

Even with one leg suspended and wearing a hospital gown, Shiranui Genma could project a terrifying presence when he wanted to. He was a tall and muscular man, more than twice the size of the adolescent girls. Taking hostages wasn't really Genma's style, especially not annoying little 12-year-old civillian girls. But extreme circumstances demand extreme actions, and he needed their absolute cooperation, as quickly as possible.

He let raw bloodlust roll off him in intimidating waves. His still swollen and bruised face and bloodied left eye added to the demonic aura he seemed to possess.

Genma's voice was calm, almost friendly, just barely tinged with something ferral, the awesome power of an elite ninja intent on a kill."Giri here is gonna help me, aren't you Giri-chan?" The special jounin pressed his fingers into the girl's collarbone. She jumped, and nodded meekly.

"Jo-jounin-sama?" Giri whispered.

"Be quiet!" Genma snarled at the girl.

She blinked, nodding, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes.

Seeing her tears, he softened slightly, "Look, I know you're probably not part of it, alright? Just do as I say and you'll be alright, got it?

"You," he directed at Yukio, still frozen against the wall with the needle in it, "get over here and help. First, you're gonna help me unstring my leg..."

ooo

When Genma had gotten himself disentangled from the traction apparatus and unhooked the IV tubing and monitors connected to his body, he swung himself upright. A complex halo of metal surrounded his injured leg; screws extending from the frame pierced his skin and anchored the device to bone. Despite its seeming rigidity, Genma quickly discovered that it would not support his weight - in fact every attempt at walking was agony. Slowly, he limped around the perimeter of the room, dragging the useless limb and leaning on walls and furniture for support. He picked up Giri's dropped mop and tested it - it would make an adequate crutch and a useful potential weapon.

But just being upright was taxing. Exhausted from his exertion, he leaned heavily against the windowsill and closed his eyes, mustering chakra to combat pain and lingering senbon-induced weakness. The petrified captives were backed up against the bed, their hands bound with surgical tape.

Seeing Genma's seeming inattention, Yukio nudged Giri and shifted her weight.

"I know exactly what you're doing, so don't," Genma hissed. He turned a murderous eye on Yukio, who quickly shrank back against Giri and the bed.

"One of you said Hatake Kakashi is here. Is that true?"

Giri nodded.

He limped across the room towards the girls, towering over them. "If you're lying, I will come back here and cut your tongues out."

Giri blanched, and Yukio started crying.

"No crying! Now, where is he?"

"Eh-eh-SCU, d-d-downstairs." Giri whispered.

"Good girl." Genma smiled. " Your friend is right, Yu-chan, _no_ ninja is harmless." He traced a finger along Yukio's trembling cheek, then dropped his hand to her neck and swiftly jabbed a chakra pulse into the pressure point there. She sagged against Giri, but Genma was already lifting her unconscious body into the bed he had vacated.

He gave Giri's neck a similar touch, then bundled her into the bed next to her friend. He covered them with blankets, so that only the long brown wisps of Giri's hair could be seen on the pillow, a fair imitation of his own, from a distance. They would be out for a while, and with luck his escape would go unnoticed.

He found a yukata and slipped it over his shoulders, wishing he had found his uniform instead. Once covered, he made his way to the door of the room and slid it open, then leaned against the frame, a little dizzy and panting. Supporting himself with the mop and by leaning against the wall, he used more of his precious and limited chakra to cast a weak genjutsu around himself. I wouldn't be enough to fool any ninja, but it would keep the civillian hospital hospital employees from noticing him, and that turned out to be enough.

Genma hobbled along the hall, keeping to the shadows just in case. He found a hospital directory near a flight of stairs, and swore bitterly under his breath as he consulted it.

'Shit. Shit Shit! How far do I have to go?' he wondered, 'Those girls said SCU, right? Where's that?'

He was on the sixth floor, apparently Kakashi was on the second. Gritting his teeth, he considered his options. Use almost all that was left of his weakened chakra to teleport to his destination, or tough out the pain of descending the stairs. The stairs would use energy, but probably not as much as a jutsu, he decided.

Once in the stairwell, he found his going less demanding than he had feared. He could lean most of his weight on the railing and kind of half-hop-half-slide down, using gravity's assistance. Two or three people passed him on the way, but they did not give him a second glance - his genjutsu held.

In the darkened corridors of the second floor, Genma made his way stealthily towards Kakashi's room.

ooo

On that same Wednesday evening, while Genma was abducting his hostages, on the second floor Iruka stretched and decided to take advantage of the fact that Kakashi had fallen asleep to step out of the room for a moment. He owed Naruto an update, and more importantly, he needed to find Tsunade. Kakashi hadn't given them much to go on, as far as discovering what had happened to him and Genma. In the first two days he had made almost no coherent sounds, but what he did utter was unsettling. In a feverish haze, he had called Genma's name, and sometimes Iruka's, sounding alarmed in a way most unlike his usual, calm self.

While he had gained a measure of lucidity on Tuesday, his thinking was clearly impaired: he kept asking Iruka the same questions over and over, struggling to reason out how he had come to be so hurt. And he continued to demand that Iruka keep the medical staff away from him. At first he had slipped back into sleep often and deeply enough that Tsunade or her proxies could attend to Kakashi when he was unconscious, but as he recovered, he became more and more difficult to treat. It was alarming to see him like this, far, far from normal, and though Tsunade said these effects could all be explained by the concussion and skull fracture, Iruka could tell that something else lurked beneath the surface.

Earlier that afternoon, Sakura had poked her head into the room to see how her sensei was getting along. It was what had taken place then that Iruka wanted to talk over with the hokage.

ooo

Kakashi had been listening to Iruka read aloud when the door slid open, and Sakura, clad in hospital whites, entered. As soon as she set foot in the room, Kakashi had moved, pushing Iruka down with one hand and groping on the bedside table for a weapon with the other. Only the fact that Iruka had seen the same reaction to a previous medical-nin in uniform prevented Sakura from being attacked. He'd shouted to Sakura to get out, to take off her coat, and at the same time leapt between the bed and the door.

"It's Sakura-chan! Sakura!" Iruka yelled at Kakashi, grabbing for his hand.

"Iruka, no! Get away!" Kakashi shouted, "It's dangerous!"

"It's _not_ dangerous! It's _Sakura-chan_, your _student!_ You _know_ her!" Iruka shouted back.

Kakashi stopped, halfway into a crouch on the bed, and stared at the chuunin, confusion shining plainly in his one uncovered eye. "Sakura-chan? What's she doing here?"

"She works here. She probably wants to visit you. OK?"

"O... OK..." Kakashi grunted and doubled up, the pain and dizziness of his sudden movement catching up with him as the adrenaline surge wore off.

"Come on, lie back," Iruka said, wrapping an arm around the jounin's tense shoulders. He could feel Kakashi shaking, but from pain or alarm he couldn't tell. "It's OK, you're safe," he soothed.

"Yeah, safe," Kakashi echoed. "Ruka? What's going on?"

"Oh gods, Kashi-kun, I wish I knew," Iruka sighed, continuing to hold his lover in a protective embrace.

"I'm hurt. Was I on a mission? I was on a mission I think..." Kakashi trailed off, struggling to remember. "My head hurts. And my chest."

"I know, Ka-chan. Don't move around so much. Here, drink this." Iruka handed Kakashi a small cup of juice with a pain-dulling medication already mixed in. After the first day of Kakashi's return to consciousness, Iruka and the medical staff had found that Kakashi would willingly take medicine Iruka offered him, even while he fiercely resisted treatment by the medics themselves.

The door slid open again, and Sakura, now in street clothes, poked her head in. "Iruka-sensei? Can I... can I come in?"

Iruka turned to Kakashi, "Sakura-chan wants to say hello. Are you OK now? Can she come in?"

The pale jounin lay against the raised head of the bed, looking worn out. He raised a hand to his face, feeling for the mask that wasn't there.

"Don't worry about your mask. She's already seen your face, Kashi-kun."

"What? When?" Kakashi looked slightly alarmed.

"It's Wednesday, you got here on Sunday. Remember? You've been unconscious." Iruka explained, his tone patient.

"You... you've told me that before. And I keep forgetting, don't I?"

"Yes."

"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura called from the door, "It's OK. It's very common to have short-term memory loss with a skull fracture."

"A skull fracture?" Kakashi turned his gaze towards the pink-haired young woman standing on the threshold to the room. Despite Iruka's assurance that his face had been seen, he pulled the blanket up so that it covered his nose and mouth. He raised one hand in greeting. "Yo, Sakura-chan."

Sakura took this as permission and stepped into the room, crossing to stand at the foot of the bed. "You... you look a little better, Kakashi-sensei."

"Mah, I'm OK. Just a little tired..." The medicine Iruka had given him was starting to take effect, making it hard to keep his eyes open and focused.

"You ah, you should probably try to rest more. Um..." Sakura tried not to stare, but seeing Kakashi in such a state, head, chest and torso wrapped in bandages, arms and face naked, was startling. She was caught somewhere in between being a professional medic and being a former student and subordinate, and it was awkward.

"How's Genma doing?" Iruka asked.

At the mention of his mission partner's name,Kakashi's drowsy eye snapped open.

"Genma! Genma's hurt! He was with me! He's..."

"It's OK, Genma's here at the hospital. Ibiki brought him in. He's OK, Kakashi." Iruka said, squeezing a pale shoulder in his tan fingers.

Kakashi nodded slightly and let out a breath. The tension in his body relaxed as suddenly as it had blossomed.

"Genma-san's recovering. His leg's a lot better. He's... sleeping a lot," Sakura said. She looked at Iruka. "But, but Tsunade-san says he'll be OK... uh... I mean, back to his usual self, in a few days or so..."

"Has Raidou gotten here yet?" Iruka asked.

"Ano...Raidou-san... I don't think so... you mean to see Genma-san? What does he look like?"

"Genma's partner. You know him. Jounin with a burn scar on his neck and left cheek and across his nose." Iruka replied.

"Oh, um, no. I don't think he's been here."Sakura said.

"Where's... Raidou?" Kakashi was starting to sound sleepy.

"He's on a mission. He should be back tomorrow or the next day, if he got Ibiki's message." Iruka answered.

"Ibiki... sent for him? Must be... serious." Kakashi was struggling now, resisting the narcotic's potent drive to sleep.

"He's OK. You rest." Iruka said. He flicked his eyes at Sakura and then to the door. The medical apprentice got his meaning, treading softly out of the room.

"Should I wait for you, Iruka-sensei?"

"No, I'll talk with you later, Sakura-chan."

Iruka leaned over Kakashi, straightening the rumpled blankets. "You OK, Ka-chan?" he whispered.

"Umn," Kakashi mumbled in reply.

"Sleep. I'll be here when you wake up." Iruka kissed Kakashi lightly.

"Nnn... don't go... Ruru..." Kakashi reached one hand towards his lover's face.

"Shh. Go to sleep, it'll help you heal." Iruka tucked the jounin's arm back under the blankets and patted them down.

The potent medicine combined with his weakened state overcame Kakashi's resistance, and he slipped beneath the waves of a drugged but restful sleep.

_END Chapter 5_

ooo ooo ooo

_Author's Notes_

Well, I'm off schedule now, but here's a new chapter nonetheless. Thanks to all for the absolutely wonderful reviews! It's been a real high reading them. As always, reviews _deeply_ appreciated.


	6. Barricade

**Homecoming**

_by Nezuko, Prince of Rats_

_This is a work of derivative fiction based on "Naruto" by Kishimoto Masashi. The characters and the world in which they live are the property of Kishimoto-sensei._

ooo ooo ooo

_Chapter 6: Barricade_

Genma limped slowly along the corridors of the hospital's second floor. The mop was an inadequate crutch at best, an actual hazard at worst, as it occasionally slipped on the waxed floor tiles, causing the injured jounin to lurch and stumble painfully. He was glad when he found a cluster of wheeled IV poles standing in a corner, substituting one of them for the unreliable mop.

'Maybe I should keep this, just in case,' he thought, aligning the mop's wooden handle with the cold chrome-covered pole. He continued to shuffle along in the shadows, dragging his haloed, shattered right leg painfully around with every step. The new walking aid was better, though still not perfect, and he was starting to seriously tire.

'He can't really be here,' he told himself, 'I saw him cut down...' Genma stopped to rest, sagging against the wall and pushing sweaty strands of his long brown hair off his forehead, covering his eyes. He was assaulted by memory fragments, like a choppy movie playing over in his head, against his will. Pieces, disjoint and unsettling, combined with a rush of emotion.

_Kakashi leaning over him, mismatched eyes narrowed, intense, the blood-red Sharingan swirling. Kakashi's calm voice, "You'll be safe hidden here, hang on Genma-kun." Himself unable to move, in terrible pain. Kakashi bleeding, surrounded by the enemy, their white coats swirling, dust and smoke in the air. The crackle and hiss of chakra exploding. Kakashi's anguished scream, his body falling, falling, falling, blood flying from his mouth in slow motion. His own horror at being unable to do anything but witness his friend's murder._

The flashback faded, leaving Genma, shaking, his arms wrapped around his aching sides. He gasped for breath, biting his lip hard to dispel the memory. Kakashi couldn't really be here, he couldn't, but if he was... If those girls were telling the truth... He pulled himself upright, leaning on the pole. He had a mission to complete. He had to find him. Because if Kakashi was really here, alive, that changed everything.

ooo

Kakashi woke to the sound, no the awareness, of someone standing outside his room. He glanced at the window - it was dark outside. There was no clock in the room, which annoyed him no end, as his internal clock was still haywire. He remembered things a bit better now. Remembered he was in the hospital. That he'd been hurt on a mission. Definitely hurt, because he felt like absolute hell. Remembered that he couldn't remember how it had happened, or much at all about the mission. He remembered that Iruka had been there earlier, that Iruka made him feel safe. And he felt anything but safe right now. Iruka was not there, he was badly hurt, in a hospital bed, a presence was outside his door, and he remembered one other thing: the medics were not what they seemed. They were ninja first, medics second, and they were the enemy.

The door slid open, a shaft of bright light from the hallway spilling into the dimly lit room. Kakashi had already peeled the patch off his Sharingan eye, but he hid under the covers, waiting, waiting. He would not attack until the enemy was within range of the bed. He had no weapons, minimal chakra and a bad enough injury to severely restrict his mobility. He had to be smart, tactical, economical with his motion.

The door closed, and a dragging sound accompanied the approach of the person - it was just one - who had entered. Kakashi felt the chakra distortion that told him the intruder was masked with a genjutsu, but not much of one - maybe this was a low-ranking enemy who would be easily defeated despite Kakashi's weakness. He lowered the blanket, uncovering his eyes and stared at the silhouette of a kimono-clad ninja leaning on a strangely elaborate staff. The Sharingan instantly and effortlessly penetrated the illusion, but what it revealed was a shock.

"Genma?" Kakashi said wonderingly.

Genma just stared. 'He looks bad,' thought Kakashi. His face was battered, his leg in some strange medical or torture device. He was pale and clearly weak, barely supporting himself with what appeared to be an IV stand. 'And he looks like he's just seen a ghost.'

Genma's mind was running through a similar inventory of Kakashi's state: head and torso bandaged, skin sickly sallow, body clearly without much reserve. But Genma was somewhere between suspicious and elated.

He let go of the pole and leaned against the closed door, hands quickly forming the kata seals. "Kai!" Genma directed the illusion dispersal jutsu at the man in the bed. But Kakashi remained.

"I'm real, Genma-kun!" Kakashi laughed. Suddenly the terror he had felt was gone, replaced by delight. Genma was here. Genma was, well not OK, but on his feet. A lot better than he had been when Kakashi had last seen him. That realization brought with it a sudden flood of memory.

_Genma in the hands of enemy ninja. Genma immobilized, unable to fight back. A white-coated enemy swinging a sheathed katana at Genma's already fractured right leg. The sickening sound of splintering bone and Genma's strangled cry._

He was shocked out of his reverie by Genma's voice.

"Kakashi?"

"Genma! You're..."

"You _bastard!"_ Genma roared, shaking. He leaned on the IV stand again and dragged himself across the room.

"Genma?"

"You fucking _bastard!"_ Genma had reached the bedside; he took a violent swing at Kakashi's face.

Kakashi was shocked. And the shock kicked his brain into gear. Genma was his friend and ally, drinking buddy and mission partner. Genma would not attack him. Maybe this wasn't really Genma. He forced chakra into the Sharingan, desperate to pierce the illusion. But what he saw was just confusing. The rapid motion of Genma's approaching fist. The remnants of Genma's weak genjutsu. Genma himself. And something... blurry... about his friend. Like damage to his aura. Nonetheless, while it was a seriously injured Shiranui Genma, it was the genuine one, to be sure.

Kakashi's transplanted eye analyzed the arc and velocity of Genma's swing perfectly. It sent the message flying through Kakashi's optic nerve and into his brain's visual cortex, and the synapses in another part of his brain quickly translated it into appropriate action. Dodge. Counter. But here the messages jumbled and failed, blocked by bruised grey matter and dead wires. He tried to dodge, but he was too slow. His aching torso tried to move the rest of his body out of harms way, to lift an arm to block the swing, but the damaged and weakened muscles couldn't respond quickly enough. Genma's fist collided with his neck and the edge of his jaw, forcing an ugly grunt out of his mouth.

Genma, however, wasn't really in any shape for a fight either. The punch took all his energy, and the momentum carried him far off balance. He touched the heel of his broken right leg to the floor to steady himself, which sent a violent pain right through the limb, up his spine and into the center of his brain, where it sparked blackly before putting out Genma's lights altogether. The long-haired man pitched forward, collapsing onto Kakashi, his full weight crashing down on Kakashi's injured chest. This triggered a similar chain reaction in the silver-haired jounin's own nervous system: sudden, violent explosion of pain, sparking and tunneling of vision, blackness.

Genma came to first; really only a few seconds had passed. His leg, his face, his guts hurt like crazy. He found himself lying face down across another body. Warm. Breathing. Bandaged. Kakashi! He pushed himself up, rolled away a little, so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed, his good leg braced against the floor and the injured, haloed one jutting out into space.

"Kakashi? Kashi?" Genma shook his now unconscious friend.

"Unnnwah?" Kakashi groaned, rousing.

"Shit, it really is you!"

"Un. Genma?" Kakashi coughed a painful sounding gurgle, and the center of the bandages on his chest began to show a crimson stain.

"You bastard. I thought you were dead! I saw you die, dammit!"

"You'd..." Kakashi labored to alertness, his head and jaw aching and his torso on fire, "rather I were dead?"

"No no! I just... What the fuck were you thinking? You were completely outnumbered!"

"_We_ were outnumbered, Genma. _We."_ Something in the sudden appearance of his mission partner had jarred loose the piece of bruised brain holding back Kakashi's recollection of their mission. It came flooding back. "I wasn't gonna let those assholes..."

"That's exactly what you should have done, you idiot!" Genma raged. "What part of strategic disadvantage do you not get? You should have left me with them and reported back for reinforcements!"

"Reinforcements? What garbage are you spewing now?" Kakashi countered. "We didn't know _what_ the situation was at that point! And I sure as hell wasn't gonna leave you in the hands of those sadists if I could help it!"

"So you gave them yourself instead? Your life is more important to this village than mine is!" Genma was shaking, red faced. His white knuckled grip on the edge of the bed was all that was keeping him upright, or he would have been waving his arms wildly in his agitation.

"That. Is. Crap." Kakashi's voice was low pitched. Deadly. "A life does not equal a life, but yours is no more or less worth than mine or anyone else's."

Genma stopped his tirade, arrested by his friend's tone and his words.

"Besides, it came out OK. I was better equipped to escape from them than you were. It was the right decision." The mature tone was gone and Kakashi suddenly sounded just as petulantly defiant as he had as the prodigal child genius he had once been. The same way Genma had heard him countless times, defending his risky but successful maneuvers in a debriefing room, after the fact. The flashback was completed by the bandages the silver-haired man sported. Injured but alive and successful, defending his actions against harsh accusations of recklessness.

Genma laughed. A hollow laugh, but a laugh nonetheless. "Kashi, you're a brat. You may have outranked me before you were even out of diapers, every step of our careers, but you are and always will be a brat." He lifted a hand towards Kakashi's head, presumably to tousle his spiky hair, but the Copy-nin stopped him.

"Please, Genma-aniki. My head hurts."

"Yeah, you wish you had a brother as great as me!" Genma mocked. But he wobbled a little where he sat. Kakashi coughed again, that wet, wheezing cough, and groaned, holding his hands over his aching chest and belly.

While he caught his breath, he studied the halo around Genma's right leg, at length asking, "How is it?"

"Hurts. Alot. What did they do to you?"

"Don't remember."

At that moment the door slid sharply back, and three alarmed medics rushed into the room.

"Hatake-sama? Are you alright? We heard the noise and your monitor..."

"Shiranui-san? What are you doing down here?"

"How did he get..."

The medics surged forward.

"Shit!" Genma shouted pushing a rolling table over between the medics and Kakashi and himself.

"Get down! Get behind me!" Kakashi ordered. He was crouched in the bed, hauling himself up by the pole of the IV stand his own medication was hanging from.

Genma made a swift sequence of hand seals, then grabbed the IV pole he'd been using as a crutch and vaulted backwards over the bed, landing against the wall behind it. He fell into a single legged squat, his injured leg stuck out in front of him. As he landed, his delayed lightning jutsu leapt to life, sending an arcing curtain of sparks towards the shocked medical personnel.

Kakashi didn't wait for the lightning to die before he added his own assault to the barrage, materializing a sheet of flame behind the electric current. Screaming out a blood curdling war cry, he whipped his heavy IV pole into the air, aiming it squarely at the head of the nearest medic.

The white-clad chuunin fell with a gasp, a profusely bleeding gash opened on his temple.

"Hokage's balls! Matsui-san!" An obviously burned medic rushed to his fallen comrade. A third white-clad figure lay slumped on the floor, limbs twitching.

"Get away!" Genma growled, animal menace flowing out of every pore.

"Dammit! Get Matsui and Itoh and clear out of here!" Another medic, a woman and seemingly the one in charge, yelled from the hallway. "Get some reinforcements! What the fuck are these guys on?"

Much shouting and running could be heard from the hall as the medics retreated, leaving Genma and Kakashi on the floor, breathing heavily. The bandages on Kakashi's torso were now clearly sopping up fresh blood from beneath them.

"We've gotta... make a ... plan..." Kakashi gritted. The IV had yanked free of his arm and was squirting clear liquid onto the floor from the pole where it still dangled.

"Unh," Genma grunted in reply. He held himself gingerly still, his back and abdomen filled with a terrible ache.

"Did they hit you?" Kakashi asked, reaching a hand towards his comrade.

"No. Just jarred something jumping around." Genma ground his teeth, his eyebrows knotted and low.

"We don't have the best position."

"We're on the second floor," Genma replied, "Think you can manage a descent from the window?"

"Even if I can, Genma, you can't."

"Look, we've already been through this. One of us has to go for help. And it obviously can't be me." Genma all but snarled.

"I'm not leaving you here!"

"I'm not watching you get carved up and killed _again!"_ Genma shouted back.

Kakashi groaned and slumped forward.

"Kashi!"

"Ung. Look... Genma..." Kakashi coughed, "I can't make it out of here either." He glanced up from under tightly furrowed brows, his Sharingan eye gleaming as red as the blood seeping from his chest. "We're gonna have to think of something... else."

_END Chapter 6_

ooo ooo ooo

_Author's Notes_

Aniki big brother

Extra Special Thanks to HeyDiddleDiddle (aka AMidnightSunrise), Momo (aka MessyPeaches) and HikaruxYuki for early reads and comments.

Don't worry, I'm not gonna leave it like this for long. Thanks to all for your encouraging and helpful reviews. As always, reviews and critique are most welcome.


	7. Siege

**Homecoming**

_by Nezuko, Prince of Rats_

_This is a work of derivative fiction based on "Naruto" by Kishimoto Masashi. The characters and the world in which they live are the property of Kishimoto-sensei._

ooo ooo ooo

_Chapter 7: Siege_

Iruka swallowed the last of his tea and rubbed a hand over his stubbly chin. He had had what - one shower since Kakashi woke up? And he hadn't bothered to shave. He didn't want to spend the time away from the jounin, and he frankly hadn't thought to do it at Kakashi's bedside while he kept watch over the delirious ninja.

The shinobi teacher considered what he was going to tell Tsunade. Kakashi's memory and alertness were improving, and his pain seemed reasonably controlled, but his strange paranoia about the medics was, if anything, getting worse. His near attack on Sakura that afternoon had been most distrubing.

Iruka sighed, stretching, 'No time like the present,' he admonished himself. Kakashi would probably only sleep a little longer, and he wanted to be back by the jounin's bed before he awoke. He had just pushed his chair back from the wobbly cafeteria table when a breathless young woman ran up to him. He immediately recognized her as one of the ward clerks from the SCU.

"Ih... Iruka-sensei? You need to come... Hatake-sama's... he..." She stammered, gasping.

Iruka blanched. His heart raced and his mouth went dry. A chill tremor passed below his diaphragm.

"What? What happened to him? Is he alright? Who's with him?" Iruka grabbed the girl's wrist and pulled her along with him as he rushed back towards the ward.

"He's... Hatake-sama and Shiranui-sama... they're totally crazy!"

"Genma?" Iruka broke stride briefly, then resumed his sprint. "What happened?"

"I ... I don't know. Shiranui-sama was in Hatake-sama's room, and they attacked Migaki-san and Matsui-san and Itoh-san and, and..."

"Genma is _with_ him? Are they hurt?"

"Yes, all of them are!" The girl answered, flapping agitatedly at the speeding chuunin's side. "Itoh-san's having seizures and Migaki-san is all burned on one side! Matsui-san is still unconscious - I think someone was stitching his head - and, and..."

"Not them!" Iruka snapped, his usual tact lost in the panic of the moment.

"Oh! I... I don't know! I don't know! No one can get close to them, and you're the only one Hatake-sama calms down for, and..."

They pushed through the double doors leading to the SCU, which Iruka found in pandemonium. Clusters of medics were tending their injured colleagues, while others shouted and raced about gathering supplies, including medicated darts, offering strategies and theories about the combative jounin, glancing fearfully towards room 2203, and generally getting in each other's way.

ooo

Tsunade and Ibiki were deep in conversation, ensconced in the Hokage's smallish office in the medical center. The village leader sat spread-legged on the edge of her desk, swinging one foot restlessly back and forth, her slipper dangling from her toe.

Ibiki, by contrast, stood against the wall, stock still, arms folded across his chest.

"I don't like it, Ibiki. I just don't like it." Tsunade sounded frustrated, petulant.

"You've said that, Tsunade-sama. And while I agree with you that there is something foul at work here, I don't know how much more we can resolve without some new data."

"Let's go over it again. They left a week ago on Monday, and both were found on Sunday morning, right?"

"Yes. I found Genma around 0400, about 10 kilometers from the gate. Kakashi got back on his own, some time around 0200."

"Presumably already hurt. But Umino didn't notice it immediately."

"Right. Actually, that's surprising, given how attentive he is." Ibiki unfolded his arms, then refolded them.

"And both of them were clearly..." Tsunade stopped, not really wanting to say the word aloud.

"Tortured," Ibiki supplied, flatly.

"Yes." Tsunade looked up, her foot stilled for a moment.

"And we don't know how either of them got away, but we know Genma thought Kakashi was dead." Ibiki continued.

"Neither one of them has been coherent since they got here; they both suffered head trauma..." Tsunade picked up a folder on her desk, shuffling through it, pulling out a skull x-ray and holding it up at arm's length, studying it.

"So they've been no help," the medic sannin went on, "Kakashi regained some measure of consciousness on Tuesday - yesterday - but he's still not thinking clearly. He seems... both of them seem _afraid_, somehow..."

"Don't forget the incident at Iruka's house, Tsunade-sama. Kakashi attacked the medics."

"Yes, but that's not unusual, for an injured ninja- especially one with head trauma - to react badly to the sudden appearance of strangers. I saw them practically ambush him. It was a stupid move on the medic crew's part." Tsunade tapped her fingers restlessly on the edge of the desk, dropping the x-ray back into it's folder.

"Alright." Ibiki sighed. "Genma hasn't really spoken, has he? He's woken up a little, but he seems pretty out-of-it."

"No. But I'm not certain he can, yet. I'm pretty sure he was paralyzed with senbon in the neck at some point before you brought him in. He had the wounds and they were... a type I've seen before."

Ibiki raised an eyebrow, waiting for Tsunade to elaborate, but she did not.

"And Kakashi." The blonde woman went on, starting her leg swing again. "His injuries are the most problematic for me. Genma's could all be explained by blunt force trauma, but Kakashi was cut up. He had a massive amount of damage internally for the size of the external wound. And the shape. Like a three-sided blade had been used..."

"Does that mean something to you, Tsunade-sama?"

"Maybe. I'm not sure yet. I'm surprised he managed to survive, actually. It's almost like..."

Tsunade stopped mid-sentence. She and Ibiki both stared at the door, which burst open, flung hard by an out-of-breath young man in a medic's uniform.

"Hokage-sama! Downstairs! Hatake-sama and Shiranui-sama! They're attacking the staff..."

ooo

"Iruka-sensei, wait! It's too dangerous!" A medic stepped into the chuunin's path, barring him from entering the door to Kakashi's room. A faint pall of smoke and ozone still hung in the air, and chaos was the rule in the wide hallway.

"Get out of my way." It was low, dangerous. The voice Iruka used to control acting-out twelve year olds. The voice he used on missions. He continued striding forward.

The medic hesitated, then stepped to the side, swallowing and muttering something about crazy jounin and their crazy boyfriends.

As soon as he stepped through the door, Iruka shut it behind him. A small crowd of medics immediately swarmed forwards, trying to peer in. Iruka savagely pulled the curtain closed over the door's small window, then turned to face the room, shocked at what he saw.

Two figures were huddled against the wall, half-hidden behind an overturned bed table. An IV pole lay on it's side, a translucent container of liquid still hooked to it, it's snake-like tubing disconnected from it's patient and lying forlornly in a puddle of spilled medicine on the floor.

"Kakashi?" Iruka moved out of the shadows, holding himself tensely alert.

"Get out of here! Get the fuck out!" Genma's snarling voice rasped, then collapsed into a winded-sounding fit of gagging coughs.

"Genma? Are you OK? Kakashi?" Iruka tried again, taking another step forward.

"Back off!" This time it was Kakashi's voice, sounding strained and weak. Iruka saw a second IV pole lifted with a wobble, aimed menacingly like a spear.

"Kakashi, snap out of it! It's me!" Iruka took another step in, close enough now that if Kakashi or Genma attacked, he'd have a hard time dodging quickly.

"Iruka?" Genma was the first to recognize him.

"Kashi? Is this a trap? Look with your Eye!" Genma half-ordered, half begged. He _so_ wanted this to be real. This to be Iruka. Not a threat, but an ally at last come to their rescue.

"Ru?" Kakashi's voice wavered, and he squinted at Iruka, both eyes uncovered.

"Kakashi? Please, it's me, I promise." Iruka held out his hands palms up in a placating gesture. He took another step closer, kneeling so as to be eye-level with the jounin on the floor.

"Iruka!" The IV pole weapon clattered to the floor. Kakashi tried to stand, but his legs buckled under him and he fell heavily forward, not quite catching himself in time, so that he hit the ground with a dull thunk, grunting, then rolled, groaning heavily, to his side.

Genma and Iruka both sprang forward, but Iruka was the only one capable of completing the motion. Genma froze, mid-movement, bracing himself on outstretched hands and one knee, his splinted leg extended awkwardly to the side.

"Shit! Shit-aaaugh!" Genma's cursed, anguished cry was piercing.

"Hang on, Genma! Can you hang on a second?" Iruka glanced at the contorted face of his friend, then hurriedly pulled Kakashi's head and shoulders into his lap, noting with alarm the fresh blood staining the bandages around his torso.

"Ru.."Kakashi coughed feebly, grimacing. "They're here... They tried to..."

"Shhh," Iruka hushed, "It's OK. You're OK. You're in Konoha. I'm here."

It was beyond heartbreaking seeing Kakashi and Genma both so deliriously confused, so badly hurt. Iruka didn't know what was wrong, or why, but it wasn't as if he'd never beheld a fellow shinobi in the throes of some battlefield delusion. He operated on a combination of training and instinct, trying to soothe the agitated men.

"Iruka..." Kakashi stared hard the chuunin's face.

Iruka could see the little black commas slowly twirling in the blood-red Sharingan; knew Kakashi was trying to see through him, to penetrate whatever illusion he might be under. '_Wait_,' Iruka thought, '_Are they_ under a genjutsu?' He could detect no signs of one, and surely Tsunade would have noticed if they were, but...

Another series of gagging coughs from Genma broke his train of thought, and Iruka whipped his head around to see the his friend braced on one arm and the opposite knee, clutching his stomach, and retching.

"Genma! I... Kashi, can I leave you here?"

"Yeah. Help Genma." Kakashi tried to push himself into a sitting position, but his arms shook and he gave up, curling miserably onto his side.

Iruka leapt to Genma, kneeling beside him and wrapping his arms around his upper chest, helping him balance. He waited anxiously for the heaves to subside. Eventually the long-haired jounin fell still, panting in little, grunted gasps.

"Genma? You OK now?" Iruka spoke low and soothingly, not yet confident Genma really knew who he was.

Genma looked up at him through a curtain of greasy hair. "Iruka? You're here? Thank god." He closed his eyes and sagged against his friend for a second, then twisted groaning, trying to straighten up.

"Come on, Genma, lean back a little. Let me help." He gently maneuvered the larger man so that he was near Kakashi, leaning against the wall.

"Listen Iruka," Genma whispered urgently through gritted teeth, "We're surrounded. Kashi's hurt and so am I. Do you think you can get out?"

"What? Where do you think we are, Genma?" Iruka tried to keep his voice neutral. He swiped a hand across Genma's sweaty brow, finding it disconcertingly hot.

Kakashi groaned, and Iruka jumped, swiveling on his knees.

"Kakashi? You OK?" He looked at Genma for permission to move, receiving a nod in reply, and crawled quickly to the silver-haired man, still lying huddled on his side.

"Come on Kakashi. Can you sit up a little if I hold you? I think you'll be able to breathe better if there's less pressure on your chest."

Iruka pulled Kakashi back against him, wrapping his arms beneath his lover's, lifting as gently as he could. Kakashi's head lolled against Iruka's throat. Genma watched with a look of sick horror in his eyes.

"Kakashi, you bastard, don't you fucking die on me," Genma hissed.

Iruka looked up, surprised at the vehemence in the jounin's voice.

Kakashi opened his eyes a slit, glancing out of the corners at Genma, then raised a hand and flipped his friend off.

Genma pulled himself a little closer, leaning in, letting his head rest close to Iruka's against the wall.

"I already watched him die once," Genma said, as if that explained it all to Iruka, then grunted and shut his eyes.

_END Chapter 7_

ooo ooo ooo

_Author's Notes_

_About Kakashi's state of consciousness:_ When he wakes up in chapter 2, alert enough to have a coherent conversation with Iruka, two days have passed - it is early a.m. Tuesday - and he has been in and out of it up until then. But he is still concussed. His conversation with Iruka in chapter 5 takes place Wednesday, _after _the conversation in chapter 2, but he's forgotten the earlier conversation.

Head injuries are strange that way, the patient can seem completely coherent and aware one minute, and utterly out of it the next. That ability to hold a rational conversation, forget you had it, and hold it again, over and over and over is a very common effect of a severe concussion. Another hallmark of this type of serious but non-permenant brain injury is the inability to recall recent events leading up to the injury. So the patient will often do what Kakashi is doing here, sound relatively normal, but ask the same set of questions over and over - "Where am I? What happened to me? Was I in an accident? Was anyone else hurt? I guess I understand but I don't really remember." and a few minutes later he starts over as if the previous conversation had never taken place: "Where am I? What happened to me?..." etc. In Kakashi's case, as in real life, after a while the brain starts to recover; the first sign of that is remembering that you have asked the question before, even though you don't remember the answer. Hence Kakashi's comment to Iruka, "You've told me this before... and I keep forgetting, don't I?"

_The Timeline:_ As is my wont, I've been playing around with time a bit. Here's a little timeline, which might help those who are feeling lost in the weeds of my storytelling.

Saturday night/Sunday morning (Chapter 1, Chapter 3) Sunday (first half Chapter 2, Chapter 4) Monday (no chapter) Tuesday (second half Chapter 2) Wednesday (Chapter 5) Wednesday Evening (Chapters 6 & 7)

4/12 - Monday morning - Genma and Kakashi leave on their mission.

(intervening time to be described in later chapters)

4/17 - Saturday evening - Ibiki finishes his interrogation and sets out to return to Konoha.

4/18 - Sunday 2:00 am - Ibiki decides to rest for a little while, still 10 km or so outside of Konoha.

2:21 am - Kakashi wakes Iruka up returning home

4:00 - Ibiki finds Genma

5:30 - Ibiki and Genma arrive in Konoha

5:45 - Iruka's alarm goes off; Ibiki tries to calm Genma at the hospital

5:50 - Tsunade arrives at hospital, begins to treat Genma

6:15 - Iruka notices blood on the floor

6:25 - Naruto arrives at Iruka's

6:50 - Naruto arrives at hospital and interracts with Sakura, Ibiki and Tsunade

7:20 - Medics enter Iruka's house, attacked by Kakashi

7:22 - Tsunade and Ibiki enter Iruka's house

7:45 - Kakashi arrives at hospital

9:45 - Ibiki tells Iruka and Naruto about Genma; Genma and Kakashi both in surgery

12:45 pm - Iruka has lunch with Sakura and Naruto; Genma out of surgery but unconscious; Kakashi still in surgery

9:00 pm - Naruto goes home; Kakashi still undergoing intensive treatment

11:45 pm - Tsunade brings Kakashi to his room, talks to Iruka and Ibiki

4/19 - Monday 12:30 am - Iruka says goodnight to Ibiki, goes to sleep in lounger.

Monday throughout the day - Kakashi occasionally makes intelligible cries; Genma slightly less out-of-it but not speaking

4/20 - Tuesday 4:30 am - Kakashi finally wakes up, has first conversation with Iruka (but promptly forgets it.)

Tuesday throughout the day - Genma wakes up enough to start plotting, paranoid of medics but too weak to fight them off; Kakashi sleeps a lot, but when awake repeats the "what happened" conversation with Iruka, then forgets it, has paranoid reactions to medics, will only take medicine from Iruka.

4/21 - Wednesday - Genma able to stay awake more but feigns sleep; Kakashi able to stay awake more, but still having abnormal thinking, short-term memory loss, paranoid reactions to medics, etc.

4:40 pm - Kakashi has major reaction to Sakura in medic uniform, sedated by Iruka

7:00 pm - Iruka leaves Kakashi sleeping, steps out to look for Tsunade; Genma overhears girls, takes hostages, maneuvers his way towards Kakashi

7:30 - Genma and Kakashi's reunion

7:45 - Genma and Kakashi attack medics; Ibiki and Tsunade in conference

8:00 - Ward clerk gets Iruka; Medic gets Tsunade and Ibiki

8:10 - Iruka tries to deal with Genma and Kakashi

_Extra Special Thanks to Hey-Diddle-Diddle, MessyPeaches, Carcinya, HikaruxYuki and L-Lamb for early reads and advice._

_Special Thanks to all my reviewers:_ shinycry, Polka Dot, Chibi-akuma-no-kage, L-Lamb, Jay-Chan3, anbu-kakashi, Jemuil, Roxie Zephyr Jocelyn, Spectre, Yumi, Alana Quinn, faith b, Orenji Renji, Isolde1 (aka Carcinya), Ika-chan, sidhe-ranma, Beloved Fool, Azamiko, shi-chan, Exodus, AnImErIcAnDeViL06, Lae Lae, lazybumperv, Fuhrer, R.A. Ducko, Majorkami, driftingwandered, meleth78, WinterOfOurDiscontent, Celestral Moon, Blue Tajiri, Bunch-o-Nuts, wyldcat, Hey-Diddle-Diddle, paxnirvana, Pesha-Vashti, Zezura, Aryll, Lady Guena, Bite the hand that feeds, Kohinyun, Roi du Ballet, and AbsurdAnne

To all of you who have supported and encouraged my writing, I am deeply indebted and profoundly grateful. Please continue to grace me with your feedback.

Yours,

Nezuko, Prince of Rats


	8. Reinforcements

**Homecoming**

_by Nezuko, Prince of Rats_

_This is a work of derivative fiction based on "Naruto" by Kishimoto Masashi. The characters and the world in which they live are the property of Kishimoto-sensei._

ooo ooo ooo

"What? Where do you think we are, Genma?" Iruka tried to keep his voice neutral. He swiped a hand across Genma's sweaty brow, finding it disconcertingly hot.

Kakashi groaned, and Iruka jumped, swiveling on his knees.

"Kakashi? You OK?" He looked at Genma for permission to move, receiving a nod in reply, and crawled quickly to the silver-haired man, still lying huddled on his side.

"Come on Kakashi. Can you sit up a little if I hold you? I think you'll be able to breathe better if there's less pressure on your chest."

Iruka pulled Kakashi back against him, wrapping his arms beneath his lover's, lifting as gently as he could. Kakashi's head lolled against Iruka's throat. Genma watched with a look of sick horror in his eyes.

"Kakashi, you bastard, don't you fucking die on me," Genma hissed.

Iruka looked up, surprised at the vehemence in the jounin's voice.

Kakashi opened his eyes a slit, glancing out of the corners at Genma, then raised a hand and flipped his friend off.

Genma pulled himself a little closer, leaning in, letting his head rest close to Iruka's against the wall.

"I already watched him die once," Genma said, as if that explained it all to Iruka, then grunted and shut his eyes.

_END Chapter 7_

_Chapter 8: Reinforcements_

Pandemonium continued to reign in the hallway outside room 2203. With the door closed and the curtains shut, the medics and staff clustered there were straining their ears to find out what was happening inside the room, where the foolish but brave chuunin sensei faced down two delirious and hostile jounin. Some of the cleverer ninjutsu users cast various eavesdropping aids, although hospital privacy rules forbade this practice. Those who chose to disobey reasoned that this was an emergency, after all.

Even those not aided by jutsu strained to hear what was taking place behind that closed door. They half-expected the sounds of battle – the anguished cries of the scarred teacher being taken out. When instead the pained noises seemed to be coming from the patients, the assembled medics found themselves breathing a strange sigh of relief. It was almost never a good thing to hear the groans of your patients getting worse, but it was better than having a third one to add to the list.

Tsunade and Ibiki arrived to find the injured medics being cared for by their colleagues. Only Migaki, the one who had been burned by Kakashi's fire jutsu, was conscious. Tsunade pushed the woman tending his wounds out of the way with an impatient curse and inspected them herself.

"Arm, torso, face – you're lucky, it looks like it's mostly second degree," the hokage said, and motioned for the waiting medic to resume her treatment. "So what happened, Migaki?"

"I- Tsunade-sama, I..." Migaki glanced nervously at Ibiki's looming form where he leaned against wall observing the chaos, then back at the dangerously flashing eyes of his leader.

"Spit it out!" she snapped, "What the fuck happened? I hear Shiranui and Hatake are both in there, and they attacked you. Is that what happened?"

"Yes, ma'am. I..." The burned medic licked his lips nervously. "I don't know why Shiranui-san would be out of bed, I wasn't managing his care, but as far as I know he was immobilized up on the ortho floor. On six." Migaki broke off, wincing as the medic attending him applied some unguent to his burned shoulder. After a moment he continued.

"We – Matsui, Itoh and I – we were in the conference room going over patient charts when we heard raised voices and a crash from down the hall, and at the nursing station we could see Hatake-san's monitors were all going crazy – BP and heart-rate elevated, you know? So we ran down there to see what was going on..."

Tsunade nodded impatiently, her mouth a grim line.

"We went in to see what was wrong, and almost as soon as we entered they both attacked. Shiranui-san was in front of the bed, and I think I saw him cast something, then he used an IV pole to vault backward. Hatake-san was crouched in the bed – I didn't have time to see if he cast a second jutsu, but I'm pretty sure he did." Migaki glanced down at his charred clothing and burned skin and gave a rueful little laugh. "Then there was this huge electric jutsu – lightening cascade type – which caught Itoh. I tried to grab him and I got hit with the fire. When I could see again, Matsui was on the ground, bleeding from the head."

"Did they say anything?" Ibiki asked, startling the working medic and her patient, who seemed, surprisingly, to have forgotten he was there.

"Just, uh, just- I think Hatake-san said 'Get down,' or 'Get behind me.' Something like that." The injured medic hesitated.

"What?" Ibiki asked. "Even if it seems trivial, it may be relevant." His voice was deep-pitched and serious, but not unkind.

"It isn't anything, really," the medic answered, "It's just- Hatake-san sounded like a commander on a battlefield, you know? That- that _tone._ Like he was facing down an enemy and organizing subordinates." Migaki raised his unburned hand and pushed frizzled hair off his forehead.

Tsunade glanced at Ibiki, but her expression was unreadable. "Could mean anything," she said. "The man has a fucking skull-fracture. It's not surprising he's altered."

"Both of them? In the same delusion?" Ibiki replied. "Seems unlikely."

"They were definitely acting in concert?" Tsunade looked at the injured man again.

"Yes. Coordinated attack." Migaki hissed and flinched again as the medic attending him removed the burned garment from his body, pulling charred flesh with the blackened cloth. "F-f-f-fuck!" He groaned, the unburned side of his face growing whiter by the second.

"Lie him down and take him over to the burn center." Tsunade addressed the medic, pushing Migaki down onto the gurney as she spoke. "You'll be alright, Shinobi. It's a good sign it hurts. Nerves aren't destroyed."

"I know that." Migaki gritted through clenched teeth. "Fuck me if I'm ever unsympathetic to a burn patient..."

Tsunade didn't hear his last remark, though. She had moved on to the woman in charge of the unit, who was standing outside the closed door to Kakashi's room along with a crowd of medics, nurses, orderlies, security personnel, and a few curious patients and visitors.

"Clear these idiots out of here!" the hokage barked, kicking a stray wheelchair so that it collided with the legs of one of the mobile patients, who sat down in it with a startled gasp.

While the onlookers were being sorted out, Tsunade got the supervisor's analysis of the incident, including a summary of the injuries to her medical personnel.

Ibiki, meanwhile, filtered through the crowd at the edge of the wall, conducting his own investigation. He noted which ninja in the hallway had cast eavesdropping jutsu on the room, and pulled two of them aside to give him a rundown on what had taken place inside so far.

"I understand Iruka-sensei's in there with them now?" He directed at one of his informants, a delicate-looking young man wearing glasses and a surgeon's hood, by the name of Kusushi.

"He went in about fifteen minutes ago. I tried to stop him."

"What's happened since then?" Ibiki asked.

"He- he shut the curtain, Morino-sa-"

"Cut the crap, Medic. I know you cast _Tachigiki_, and I'm not going to get on your case about it. Now tell me what's happening in there." Ibiki spoke quietly, but his words carried an unmistakable threat. "You too." The tall, scarred man cast a glance at the second eavesdropping medic he had pulled aside. "And I know she's still got it cast." Ibiki gestured to a woman in standard chuunin's uniform who stood a little apart from them, staring at the shut door.

Kusushi swallowed and looked up at his forbidding interrogator. "It- it sounds like Iruka-sensei's alright. They- they're treating him as an ally. But it also sounds like both patients are doing poorly."

"Meaning?" Ibiki uncrossed and re-crossed his arms, leaning back against the wall and looking down at Kusushi and his compatriot.

"Shiranui-san was retching – probably vomiting." The other man put in. "And Hatake-san sounds like he's in pain and struggling to breathe. I heard Shiranui-san tell him not to die."

"Iruka-sensei's trying to take care of them both," Kusushi added, "And Shiranui-san was trying to get him to go for help. Said the enemy had them trapped, or something like that."

"No that was Hatake-san who said that," The other man contradicted.

"Doesn't matter." Ibiki held up a hand. "They both said something like that, right? Something to the effect that they believed they were under hostile attack, and that Iruka was an ally, right?"

"Yes." Both men nodded, waiting for Ibiki's next question.

"Come with me." Ibiki led them over to the woman who was still monitoring the room. "What's happening in there now?"

"Ibiki-san?" The woman, a security guard and a member of Ibiki's staff looked up.

"You've been listening since it started, Asano?"

"Yes sir. They're clearly both under some sort of delusion – something that has them both believing they are under attack and not in Konoha." Asano replied.

"What's their condition?"

"Poor, sir. Both are in significant distress. It appears that Iruka-sensei is attempting to keep them stable, but I believe they need immediate medical attention."

"Can you get us in there?" Kusushi broke in. "I'm on the team taking care of Shiranui-san. He's not in good enough shape to be out of bed. Not at all. He's going to start going downhill fast if we don't get him back on his IV and in traction. And I don't know about Hatake-san, but..."

"He's in bad shape, too," The second medic broke in, "He's not getting any of his meds if he's disconnected, which I think he must be, since his monitor lines are all flat now. And one of them in there said he was having trouble breathing..."

A commotion at the far end of the hall drew their attention, as a flush-faced pair of young girls in cleaning uniforms were bustled into the ward by a pair of guards.

"He- he- he said not to tell or he- he'd..." One of the girls sobbed as she was pushed towards Ibiki.

"Hush," one of her escorts said, pulling up in front of his commander. "Found them in Shiranui's bed. He coerced them into helping him get free of the traction apparatus, then knocked them out and put 'em in the bed under blankets."

"I- I- I didn't tell..." wailed Giri, beside a white-lipped and sobbing Yukio.

"You didn't have to. It was obvious what happened," the second guard soothed. "No one's gonna let anything bad happen to you."

If Genma had seemed an imposing giant to these girls, Ibiki was a demon. Taller yet, and more massive, with a forbiddingly scarred face set in a concerned frown. His gloved hands and low-tied bandanna hiding an obviously bald head were even more unsettling, though neither Giri nor Yukio could have explained why that was. The stared up at the jounin and would have burst into fresh tears, but Ibiki did something that surprised them: The tall man knelt on the floor, putting himself just below eye level with the girls, and his face relaxed into a disarmingly gentle smile.

"Sounds like you've had a rough night," he said.

The transformation was astonishing, and it wasn't only the two targets of Ibiki's interest that were confused and fascinated by it. Before the eyes of the girls, the guards, and the medics alike, the terrifying demon sadist interrogator had utterly disappeared, replaced by a kind and protective older brother. Someone who would look out for you and dry your tears. Someone you could utterly TRUST for now and forever.

Giri and Yukio stared at Ibiki with slack-jawed wonder. He reached out one of those intimidating, gloved hands, and patted Giri's arm. The gesture was full of comfort – compassion even.

"Tell me what happened," he prompted. "You both work here, right?"

Giri and Yukio both nodded, but neither made a sound.

"You're... Yuki-chan, right?" Ibiki looked at the short-haired and slightly taller of the two girls, "Yamashiro Yukio? Aoba's niece?"

"You know my uncle?" Yukio looked stunned.

"Of course I do. I work with him." Ibiki smiled

"I... he... I... How did you know..." Yukio stammered, forgetting her fear.

"I recognized your name," He gently tapped her name tag when she looked bewildered. "And I remembered hearing Aoba-san talk about you. You look like him, did you know that?" Ibiki still smiled, seeming to have all the time in the world. "Now, can you tell me what happened?"

"We- we were cleaning his room," Yukio answered, in a shaky voice. "The jounin with the broken leg." She took a breath, then started to pick up speed, "And Giri said not to get too close, but then she cleaned under his bed and he grabbed her and I was gonna scream but he threw a dart at me..."

"It was a hypodermic syringe," one of the guards interrupted, "Found it embedded in the wall."

"Giri-chan, is that what happened? Is that what you remember?" Ibiki turned to the still silent girl with long brown hair that resembled her attacker's.

"Un huh," she nodded, her voice a meek whisper. "I should have been more careful..."

"That's alright. No-one's blaming you." Ibiki shifted, leaning in slightly, as if he were about to confide in the girls. "The man who did this to you was very badly hurt on a mission for Konoha. We need to try to understand why he attacked you, because I know him, and he would _never_ do something like this unless there was something very strange going on."

Ibiki paused and looked solemnly at each girl in turn. "So this is really important, alright? Did Shiranui-san say anything to you about _why_ he attacked you? Did he ask you for anything besides help getting out of bed?"

"He- he said he knew we weren't involved in it. I didn't know what he meant, but he said to be quiet and he- he was..." Giri stumbled.

"He was choking her! He said he'd cut our tongues out if we talked. Oh god!" Yukio started to tremble and cry, clapping her hands over her mouth.

"You're under my protection, so no-one will hurt you, Yuki-chan." Ibiki looked up at one of his Anbu staffers. "Send a message to get Yamashiro Aoba over here if he's available. Don't tell him what's been happening here, let me do it."

The chosen chuunin nodded smartly, tugged a bird-like mask over his face, and vanished.

"Now," Ibiki glanced up at one of the guards who had brought the girls, then back. "Was he really choking you, Giri-chan?"

"N- no. He had his hand around my throat," Giri brought her own hand up to rub at her neck, "But he wasn't pressing."

"Neither girl had any marks on them that we were able to detect, Ibiki-san," The guard reported, confirming Giri's statement.

'OK," Ibiki nodded. "And he said he knew you weren't involved in something..."

"He said we probably weren't part of it," Giri corrected, remembering Genma's words more clearly.

"Good. And what else? Did he say anything else?" Ibiki prompted, his voice still low and gentle. Only those who knew him closest would have been able to detect the underlying urgency there.

"He wanted to know where Hatake-sama was. He- he made us help him get his leg free, and then he wanted to know if we were really talking about him and..."

"You were talking about Hatake Kakashi? Why was that?"

Giri blushed and looked at the floor. When Ibiki looked up questioningly at Yukio, he saw that her face, too, was flushed pink, and her eyes were averted.

"I really need you to be honest with me. It's okay that you were talking about him, if you were. Did you mention Hatake-san's name first?" Ibiki's legendary powers of interrogation notwithstanding, getting two embarrassed and traumatized twelve year old girls to fess up to gossiping is a difficult task.

"Well, Yun-chan was..."

"Don't tell! I mean, it wasn't important!" Yukio squealed.

"It is important. It's very important..." Ibiki considered his subjects. Loyalty to the village only went so far as a motivator, since neither of these girls were nins or even academy dropouts. He didn't want to _force_ them to explain, but on the other hand, there was a crisis underway and time to coax the information out of the adolescents was preciously limited.

The long-haired girl, Giri, seemed like she would be willing to talk, like she _wanted_ to talk, and she appeared to have decent observational skills. If Ibiki had had to lay odds on it, it was she, and not Yukio whom he would have bet was the relative of a highly-skilled shinobi. Fortunately, Aoba and the Anbu chuunin who had gone to fetch him appeared at that moment, giving Ibiki a chance to separate the girls.

"Ibiki-san, you sent for me? Something's happened to my niece?" Aoba, despite his reputation for boisterousness, was low-voiced and serious. His wraparound sunglasses were stowed in a vest pocket, exposing deep-set eyes so dark they appeared pupil-less. The obvious chaos in the hospital, the buzz in the air of names of jounin he knew well, and knew to be hospitalized with critical, mission-related injuries, and above all having been summoned by a masked Anbu to meet with the head of Torture and Interrogation, with no details as to why forthcoming, was more than enough to set him firmly in mission-mode.

"Yuki-chan is shaken up, but she's not hurt." Ibiki stood up to face Aoba. He put a hand protectively on Giri's shoulder, while at the same time gently patting Yukio's, urging her to take a step closer to her uncle.

"I'll fill you in on the details later," Ibiki continued, "but the short version is that she and Giri-chan here were cleaning Genma's room, and he coerced them into helping him find Kakashi. He left the girls up in his room, came down here, and apparently he and Kakashi together attacked some of the staff, believing they were in combat or perhaps in enemy hands. Umino Iruka's in there with them now, and I'm trying to sort out what the hell is going on with those two."

"My god." Aoba dropped to his knees next to his niece. "Are you really alright, Yuki-chan? He didn't hurt you?"

"Aoba-ojichan!" Yukio wailed and hurled herself into her uncle's arms.

The jounin quickly felt his niece over, ascertaining that indeed, while frightened, she was unhurt. He stood, lifting the sobbing girl into his arms as if she were half her age, and looked at Ibiki, who clearly had instructions for him.

"Take her down to the cafeteria or somewhere nearby and see if you can get her to tell you what happened to her. The whole story. You can take her home after that, but I want you to come back here and let me know what you find out." Ibiki gave Aoba a brief nod of a bow in thanks for his help.

Aoba returned the polite head bob and set off with Yukio still in his arms. She was already working her way up to a dramatic telling of her tale of horror at the hands of her uncle's terrifying colleagues. No way was he as scary as those other guys, was he?

Ibiki immediately turned his attention back to Giri. "Are you thirsty? How about a soda or a can of tea? I'm having tea," he offered, flipping two coins to the bird-masked chuunin who had accompanied Aoba.

"I- I- I-" Giri stammered, feeling exposed with Yukio gone.

"What do you like more, green or oolong? Or do you prefer something sweet? I liked apple juice best when I was your age." Ibiki continued, as if Giri were simply hesitating because she wanted to be polite.

"I like oolong," she answered at last, in a small voice.

"What a coincidence, that's just what I was going to have. How about two cans of oolong?" Ibiki smiled easily, and led Giri towards a bench along the hallway that was hastily vacated when the current occupants saw the scarred interrogator and his masked attendant approaching. The Anbu operative veered away to procure the tea, leaving Ibiki and Giri in an island of calm in the still chaotic hospital hallway.

"There's a lot going on here, isn't there," Ibiki remarked, as if he too were merely a spectator to the goings on.

"Uh huh." Giri nodded meekly, still intimidated. She glanced up at Ibiki, seated beside her, then away.

"Do you want to ask me something?" Ibiki said.

"Does- Is- Is that guy really just- Is he really-" She couldn't get her question out, didn't know what to ask really.

"Genma-san is a very good shinobi, and he's a good man. I know he wouldn't have frightened you like that unless he thought he had no other choice." Ibiki looked up to see his subordinate had returned with the tea. He took both cans, popped the tops, and handed one to Giri. "He's very ill, and we need your help to figure out what's wrong. He was on a mission with Hatake-san when they both got hurt. That's why it's important for you to tell me what you and Yukio were talking about."

Giri nodded and took a sip of her tea. "Yun-chan, she was- she was talking about Iruka-sensei. She- I don't think she really knows who he or Hatake-sama are, and she was... She asked me if I'd seen them. The white-haired jounin and his boyfriend, with the scar on his face."

"Why was that?" Ibiki encouraged her.

"Be- because she said he was cute – Iruka-sensei – and she thought maybe if- if Hatake-sama..." Giri stopped again, appalled at the idea that Yukio had proposed, now that she had to recount it.

"It's alright, I think I understand. So she said Hatake-san's name, and that's when Genma-san reacted?"

"No, I said his name. I told her she was out of her mind, and that was Hatake Kakashi she was talking about – you know, Sharingan Kakashi and everything – and of course he was gonna get well..." Giri glanced up at Ibiki and swallowed. "And he didn't um... he didn't do anything right away. He grabbed me when I was right next to the bed. I thought he was asleep."

"Then what did he do?"

"He made us unhook his leg, and he made us tell him where Hatake-sama was. And then I don't remember. He said all shinobi are dangerous..." Giri's eyes widened again, as she stared at the bustling hallway full of ninja. The commonplace of life in Konoha had taken on new meaning.

"OK, that's good. That's very good," Ibiki patted Giri's arm again. "All shinobi are dangerous, Giri-chan, but we're all here to protect the citizens of our villages. You don't have to be afraid." Ibiki rubbed a hand over his bandanna-covered skull, and took a deep breath. "Alright, let's get you home. Do you think you'd let Tori-san here accompany you?" He indicated the bird-masked Anbu guard.

"Does - does he have to wear that?" Giri touched her own face to indicate the mask.

Ibiki looked up at the guard. "No, he can take his mask off."

The Anbu soldier quickly pulled the bird-mask off, revealing a young, serious face marked with acne scars. He held a hand out to Giri. "Come on, I'll buy you a dango on the way, if you'd like."

Ibiki stood, and watched the girl and her escort leave. Then he plunged back into the crowd to find Tsunade.

ooo ooo ooo

_Author's Notes_

Thank you for all the encouragement and patience. I will _not_ abandon this or any story, I've just had a difficult summer/fall. Not to worry.

Please review/comment at your leisure. I have plans for this story. There is more to come. Really.

_Extra Special Thanks to Kiki, Momo, Bite, Telos, Eloquence, and Winter_

_Special Thanks to all my reviewers:_

To all of you who have supported and encouraged my writing, I am deeply indebted and profoundly grateful. Please continue to grace me with your feedback.

Yours,

Nezuko, Prince of Rats

_The Timeline_

Mid-April, three years after Sasuke left for Sound.

Saturday night/Sunday morning (Chapter 1, Chapter 3) Sunday (first half Chapter 2, Chapter 4) Monday (no chapter) Tuesday (second half Chapter 2) Wednesday (Chapter 5) Wednesday Evening (Chapters 6 ,7, & 8)

4/12 - Monday morning - Genma and Kakashi leave on their mission.

(intervening time to be described in later chapters)

4/17 - Saturday evening - Ibiki finishes his interrogation and sets out to return to Konoha.

4/18 - Sunday 2:00 am - Ibiki decides to rest for a little while, still 10 km or so outside of Konoha.

2:21 am - Kakashi wakes Iruka up returning home

4:00 - Ibiki finds Genma

5:30 - Ibiki and Genma arrive in Konoha

5:45 - Iruka's alarm goes off; Ibiki tries to calm Genma at the hospital

5:50 - Tsunade arrives at hospital, begins to treat Genma

6:15 - Iruka notices blood on the floor

6:25 - Naruto arrives at Iruka's

6:50 - Naruto arrives at hospital and interracts with Sakura, Ibiki and Tsunade

7:20 - Medics enter Iruka's house, attacked by Kakashi

7:22 - Tsunade and Ibiki enter Iruka's house

7:45 - Kakashi arrives at hospital

9:45 - Ibiki tells Iruka and Naruto about Genma; Genma and Kakashi both in surgery

12:45 pm - Iruka has lunch with Sakura and Naruto; Genma out of surgery but unconscious; Kakashi still in surgery

9:00 pm - Naruto goes home; Kakashi still undergoing intensive treatment

11:45 pm - Tsunade brings Kakashi to his room, talks to Iruka and Ibiki

4/19 - Monday 12:30 am - Iruka says goodnight to Ibiki, goes to sleep in lounger.

Monday throughout the day - Kakashi occasionally makes intelligible cries; Genma slightly less out-of-it but not speaking

4/20 - Tuesday 4:30 am - Kakashi finally wakes up, has first conversation with Iruka (but promptly forgets it.)

Tuesday throughout the day - Genma wakes up enough to start plotting, paranoid of medics but too weak to fight them off; Kakashi sleeps a lot, but when awake repeats the "what happened" conversation with Iruka, then forgets it, has paranoid reactions to medics, will only take medicine from Iruka.

4/21 - Wednesday - Genma able to stay awake more but feigns sleep; Kakashi able to stay awake more, but still having abnormal thinking, short-term memory loss, paranoid reactions to medics, etc.

4:40 pm - Kakashi has major reaction to Sakura in medic uniform, sedated by Iruka

7:00 pm - Iruka leaves Kakashi sleeping, steps out to look for Tsunade; Genma overhears girls, takes hostages, maneuvers his way towards Kakashi

7:30 - Genma and Kakashi's reunion

7:45 - Genma and Kakashi attack medics; Ibiki and Tsunade in conference

8:00 - Ward clerk gets Iruka; Medic gets Tsunade and Ibiki

8:10 - Iruka tries to deal with Genma and Kakashi

8:20 - Tsunade and Ibiki arrive


End file.
